Practice Makes Perfect.

Sometime ago, an intelligent and talented young man came to me for counseling and advice. He had some personal problems he was struggling with and was also concerned about how he could improve his writing skills. I had read some of his writings and was convinced he had the potential to become a very good, even a great, writer. After counseling him on the personal challenges he faced, we began to talk about writing. For a gifted fellow like this young man, I did not have much advice to give except to emphasize to him the universal truth that champions all over the world know and religiously follow: practice makes perfect. This truth is universal because it holds true for all time, places, professions, races, nations and persons. Whatever you practice smartly, regularly, and consistently, you will become very good at eventually.

Publilius Syrus, writer, orator, and dramatist that lived in the first century B. C., captured this truth very aptly when he said:

“Practice is the best of all instructors” – Publilius Syrus. 

No matter the quality of the instruction you receive, if you, on your part, do not take the time to practice and practice some more, you will not rise to your potential, no matter the depth of your primary potential.

Pop Warner, former football and baseball player, who went ahead to become a great coach, tied the quality of play to the quality of practice. He said:

“You play the way you practice” – Pop Warner.

In other words, you can never be better than the quantity and quality of your practice. Pete Rose, former Major League Baseball player and coach, agrees. He is quoted as saying:

“My father taught me that the only way you can make good at anything is to practice, and then practice some more” – Pete Rose.

Lack of practice will firmly fix your feet on losing grounds. This fact was underlined by Ed Macauley, professional Basketball player. He made this powerful observation:

“When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him he will win” – Ed Macauley.

Practice, indeed, makes perfect. I am a witness to this truth. My public speaking  is a blessing anywhere and anytime I speak. When I speak, lives are impacted upon positively and powerfully. This is not a vain claim but a humble statement of fact. Testimonies abound in this regard. You just cannot seat under the influence of my voice and not be touched, moved, or stirred! It is not possible. I know my speaking ability is a talent, backed by divine power to produce outstanding results. But it was not and still is not automatic. I did not just stand up one day and started speaking powerfully. No. As a matter of fact, there used to be a time when I struggled to utter a single coherent sentence. When I stood up, my mind sat down and I fumbled pitifully.

Then I began to practice. Long before opportunities to deliver public speeches came my way, I practiced long and hard, daily. I gave countless speeches to myself, standing before a mirror in my room, all the while imagining I was speaking to radio and television audiences and crowds and congregations in their thousands. I took walks in the outskirts of my home town, Numan, speaking to myself and projecting the images of a great speaker in my mind. I spent whole days in the surrounding bushes around Numan and the banks of the Benue, talking and praying and psyching and imagining great speaking scenarios and possibilities. 

I did not only practiced speaking. I read relevant books and materials on public speaking and then practiced the lessons I learnt. I also listened to speakers in fellowship, such as Asaph Zadok (who later became Hama Bachama), Leonard Nzadon, Amon Ishaya, Stephen Gyebgon, Bulus Taiya, and Vidiyeno Bamaiyi, and then imitated them in private. I followed Timawus Mathias, John Momoh, and Frank Olizie on Nigeria Television Authority and imagined myself speaking with the same elocution and power. I listened endlessly to R. W. schambach and Jimmy Swaggart on tape and imagined myself doing the same thing. Fred Addo, the Love Teaching Centre phenomenon, and Phillip Mokungah were additional influences and sources of inspiration. My life, during that period, was an endless chain of practice and more practice. 

Finally, when the opportunity to speak in public came my way, I was ready. I echoed and parroted, as a matter of course, some of my role models and influences for a while, but eventually I found my voice and style and gradually became a man of my own and, today, I am a recognized authority. Give me ten minutes and a platform and I will give you a rapturous audience and changed lives! That is just who I am, by the grace of God and my commitment to labor. 

Anybody can be as good, even better, in what they do, as long as they are committed to purposeful training and practice. That is how champions and world beaters and world changers are made. 

Mohammad Ali stands today as the greatest boxer of all time. He holds the record as the first Heavyweight boxer to win the title three times. He is famed for his speed, agility, technical ability, and unusual tactic which he called “rub-a-dub.” He retired from boxing undefeated and lives on as the greatest heavyweight boxer to ever grace the ring. He attributes his record-setting success to consistent and persistent training and practice:

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion’” – Muhammad Ali. 

There you have it. Without consistent training and practice, Muhammad Ali will not be the Great Muhammad Ali. Even though training and practice are not pleasant, he kept at them, knowing fully well that there will not be a great tomorrow for him, if he does not endure the unpleasantness of training and practice.

Are you gifted and talented? Are you ambitious? Are you pursuing excellence and greatness in life and profession? Do you want to be outstanding in what you do? Are you reaching for the top? Do you want your life to count for something in this world? If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions, then do as all champions and outstanding successes have done all over the world and throughout history: train and practice hard. Learn and learn some more. Train and train some more. Practice and practice some more. Hold on confidently and consistently. Your break will come. When it comes, it will find you ready and capable. You will shine in this life.

You can do it!

It is all within you!

All is well.

It is Agoso Bamaiyi, your friend for a greater Nigeria and the best things of life.