Top Highlights

• To realize better results, performers must determine the what before the how.
• To illustrate, Deakin and Cobley (2003) found ice skaters, despite their strong desire to improve, often devoted more time to practicing elements of their routine they had already mastered.
• On this score, findings from the expertise literature show the poorest performers frequently avoid goal-setting, plodding along instead of planning.
• Those with average results, the majority, do set goals. Nevertheless, their objectives tend to be insufficiently specific and overly focused on the final outcome. The best performers are mindful of the outcome but direct most of their time, attention, and energy to the steps required for achieving what they desire (Ericsson, 2018; Zimmerman, 2006)....
• time rehearsing small, technical aspects of a composition they hope to master—the