Do You Practice on a River or a Lake?

A group of people stood at a scenic lookout. They peered down through the trees at a long stretch of the Shenandoah river and one of them said, “This would be a fantastic place for crew practice. It’s great because you’d get a chance to really work on something without having to stop and turn around.” 

He shared that a crew coach needs enough continuous rowing to notice where his team has weaknesses and areas for improvement. In smaller lakes, the team has to stop and turn around frequently. As a result, the coach often doesn’t have enough time to diagnose problems. And when flawed technique is identified, the frequent stops make it difficult for the rowers to solidify the improved technique. 

It strikes me that there is a powerful lesson for life here. If we are committed to improving our performance, it is better to practice for long, focused stretches than to scatter our attention with frequent stops and redirections. 

This week, I invite you to consider: 

Where in my life am I practicing in a small lake, stopping frequently and not giving myself sufficient time to learn and build better habits? If I could only pick only one area to cultivate, which would have the biggest impact? 

In this area, what would it look like to practice on a long stretch of river? What would my training routine be? What flaws would I discover in my technique? What improvements could I make? What would I do to ensure these improvements become habits? 

God bless,
Dan