Rinse and repeat
The power of repetition in improvement
The power of repetition is one of the less glamourous elements of improvement. It’s also one of the most critical. In the last 24 hours, it has been popping up all over the place for me.
I bought tickets to see Jodie Foster’s new movie, A Private Life, which is entirely in French. Jodie started learning French when she was nine and has honed the skill over the course of decades to the point where she can flawlessly act in the language. As a Francophone/Francophile myself, I know how picky the French can be about language and it makes the reception of her performance even more impressive.1
I was in a coaching call with someone who is working on dealing with imposter syndrome and building confidence. We talked a lot about mantras and building confidence as a muscle repetitively over time. Say something enough and you start to believe it.
My first-grader is now on book 37 of the Magic Treehouse series. The books are well-regarded, but there’s definitely some repetitive plot formula. I’m no literacy expert, but I can only imagine that helps make these easy chapter books more manageable for kids, preparing them to read the next, longer series (the Merlin Missions, which my kiddo is eagerly anticipating).
Some of the repetition may be fun - spending time in France to perfect your accent, repeating affirming messages, enjoying a good book. Some parts are harder - do you know how many verb tenses French has?
Committing to the repetition can be hard. It can feel thankless for a long time. Until, one day, you’re making a movie in another language.