Knowledge that is not applied is knowledge that is wasted, in most situations at least. It’s not just enough that we know; we have to capitalize on what we know by doing, by converting it into performance. In short, our performance is what tells us how good we are at what we do, and when it comes to shooting pool, we become better players when we prove we can through our performance. It’s not enough to just know what to do; you need to know how to convert that knowledge into performance. If you think you’re good at grasping facts and gaining knowledge but not as good at applying it and translating what you’ve learned into performance, here’s how you can turn knowledge into performance:
· Just Do It: We will never know if we are able to convert knowledge to performance if we never try. So, as Nike says, just do it. Give yourself 15 minutes when you’re shooting by yourself to learn the new shot. Maybe you could start out with an easier version, but commit to working up to the harder one you really want to learn. Come back to it for 15 more minutes the next day and for a day or two after, and you’ll be amazed at how much more comfortable that shot has become. Once you’ve learned the process of how to make a shot your own, you can apply the same knowledge to any shot.
· Practice Makes Perfect: If there’s one way to ensure that you perform according to the knowledge you possess, it’s to practice, practice and keep practice. There’s no substitute to practice if you want to achieve perfection in your performance. The more you practice, the better you become, and the better you become, the more confidence you have.
· Have No Fear: When there is no fear, your mind is free to put into practice the knowledge that it has. You are confident of yourself and so you find that you’re able to translate knowledge into performance without the fear of failure. When shooting pool, if you’ve practiced a new way to get into position in a particular situation but are unable to apply the same in a game situation, you are letting fear get the better of you. To overcome this obstacle, just imagine that you are still at the practice table and that there are no opponents. This removes some of the pressure and you’re able to perform with excellence.
· Strive for more: Now that you have experience under your belt in practicing new shots and techniques and in making them part of your game, you need to prevent complacence from taking over. And to this end, you must continue to keep an eye on your game to identify weaknesses that need "the treatment", and on your opponents’ game for new and interesting moves and shots that they use. Good performers make everyone their teachers, even their adversaries.
Performance is really all about utilizing opportunities that come our way, so make the best of your knowledge in tandem with windows of opportunities, and you’re well on your way to being a superior performer.
The field of medicine is a minefield that’s strewn with explosives; on one hand, doctors are treated as Gods who can perform miracles and save lives and cure illnesses. On the other, if they’re not able to do what their patients expect them to, they’re denounced as incompetent or careless. What patients often forget is that a doctor is first and foremost a person like everyone else. They also don’t understand that their profession does not come with guarantees. If it did, then they would literally be playing God in people’s lives.
While it’s true that we must accept the doctor’s decision and trust him/her to provide us with the best possible care, there are times when the decision could be left to the patient – as in the case of abortion or euthanasia. Arguments for and against these two subjects rage back and forth, but there doesn’t seem to be (and there will never be) a consensus as to what is right and what is wrong. Pro-life or pro-choice, which should it be?
Medical ethics prohibit doctors from taking a life; in fact, they’re honor-bound to do all they can to save it. But what happens when there’s a conflict of interest between the patient’s wishes and the doctor’s ethics? There are a number of scenarios that can play out under these circumstances:
· When a doctor is bound by his own sense of morality: In this case, the law may allow the procedure, be it an abortion or euthanasia, but the doctor’s personal ethical values and/or religious sentiments will not allow him/her to do what they’re requested to do.
· When the law prevents the procedure but the doctor feels that it’s ok as long as the patient wants it: Legal killing is not allowed in most of the states, so doctors who assist terminally ill patients in killing themselves in these states end up paying a very costly price if they’re caught. Their license is revoked and they’re not allowed to practice medicine again, besides being the main accused (homicide and/or manslaughter) in a criminal trial.
· When the law requires it but the doctor (or the medical community) is against it: This happens in the case of legal executions or capital punishment. While the courts are trying to do the best they can to ensure that death row inmates are put to death as quickly as painlessly as possible (the only way this can be done is using chemicals like sodium pentathol, pancuronium and potassium chloride), the doctors (read anesthesiologists) who are asked to be present when the lethal injection is administered baulk at the thought of assisting a death, however evil the victim may be. Even if their personal preferences allow them to agree, they’re in danger of being ostracized by the general public and the medical community, no matter what the courts decide.
It’s hard to qualify where issues like abortion, capital punishment and euthanasia stand on the moral medical scale. Although it’s easy at first glance to say that the taking of a human life, for any reason, is wrong, once we assume the eyes of the people concerned – the mother who cannot afford to give her baby a good life because of poverty or other reasons, the terminally-ill patient who would die now rather than suffer a more painful death a few months down the line, and the family and friends of the victims who died at the hands of those on death row – we’re not so sure where our loyalties lie. And as long as this indecision remains, medical ethics will continue to be a hotly debated topic for years to come.