The Doing Deficit: How Deliberate Action Outperforms Passive Learning
Stephen King didn’t become a bestselling author by reading about writing—he became one by writing every single day. The same applies to many successful people across various fields.
They didn’t just gather information—they took deliberate action, committing to daily practice that helped them refine their skills. Yet, so many of us continue to endlessly collect information while avoiding actual practice. Why?
In truth, most of us don’t suffer from a knowledge deficit—we suffer from a doing deficit. We take online courses and read books but rarely apply what we learn. The hard part isn’t learning what to do; it’s doing what we already know. So how can we shift from passive thinking to active doing?
“Deliberate practice occurs when an individual intentionally repeats an activity in order to improve performance,” explains psychologist Guillermo Campitelli. Research shows that deliberate practice is necessary to master new skills, and that it takes about 3,000 hours of deliberate practice to reach an intermediate level of proficiency in a skill.
Deliberate practice isn’t just about putting in time; it’s about challenging yourself at the edge of your abilities. In addition, many skills are cumulative—you need to master the basics before moving onto more advanced topics.
