Practice sucks.

Real practice.

The kind of practice where you’re happy you did it in hindsight but while you’re doing it, it’s hard.

I think about summer two-a-days for soccer in high school.

In real time, those “practice” sessions SUCKED.

When it was 90-100 every day, humid, and we’d be running a mile or two before and after practice in the name of conditioning, and people would be puking or falling over in any patch of shade the could find…

There was no fun in it.

But come September, when the game is in the closing minutes and you still have something left in the tank, you’d think, “This is so much easier than that end of session run.”

Practice sucks.

But having practiced - that can be a very comforting thing.

And, if you’re doing something that sucks, it’s worth asking -

Is this practice?

Because that happens, too.

Way more in professional life.

I find myself regularly out of my depth doing these podcast interviews with an expert.

At first I worried I had to know enough to prove I was smart, but - I figured out I don’t.

I can’t be a dummy, but I don’t have to prove anything except that I can be a good host.

Which - when you feel dumb, you can start to feel like everything sucks in the moment.

I had to go through that to realize it was just a form of practice.

I’m trying to notice that anywhere I’m doing something I genuinely want to be doing.

When it sucks, how can I remind myself that “ahh, this is the practice part.”

Because all that really matters is, a few months down the road when you realize you’ve got this, you’re happy you put in the work.

Practice always sucks.,

And if something sucks, it’s probably a sign it’s practice.

Ps. if you need an Iverson-esque reminder, try this post. If you want a follow-on riff, try this post on how consistency is a form of intelligence.