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Most of us go through life trying to do our best at whatever we do, whether it's our job, family, school or anything else. I feel that way, I try my best. But some time ago I came to a realization that I wasn't getting much better at the things I cared most about, whether it was being a husband or a friend or a professional or teammate. And I wasn't improving much at those things even though I was spending a lot of time working hard at them. I've since realized from conversations I've had and from research that this stagnation, despite hard work, turns out to be pretty common. So I'd like to share with you some insights into why that is and what we can all do about it. What I've learned is that the most effective people and teams in any domain do something we can all emulate. They go through life deliberately alternating between two zones, the learning zone and the performance zone. The learning zone is when our goal is to improve. Then we do activities designed for improvement, concentrating on what we haven't mastered yet, which means we have to expect to make mistakes knowing that we will learn from them. That is very different from what we do when we're in our performance zone, which is when our goal is to do something as best as we can to execute. Then we concentrate on what we have already mastered and we try to minimize mistakes. Both of these zones should be part of our lives, but being clear about when we want to be in each of them, with what goal, focus and expectations, helps us better perform and better improve.

The performance zone maximizes our immediate performance while the learning zone maximizes our growth and our future performance. The reason many of us don't improve much despite our hard work is that we tend to spend almost all of our time in the performance zone. This hinders our growth and ironically over the long term also our performance. So what does the learning zone look like? Take the example of Demosthenes, a political leader and the greatest orator and lawyer in ancient Greece. To become great, he didn't spend all his time just being an orator or a lawyer, which would be his performance zone, but instead he did activities designed for improvement. Of course he studied a lot—law and philosophy with guidance from mentors—but he also realized that being a lawyer involved persuading other people, so he also studied great speeches and acting. To get rid of an odd habit of involuntarily lifting his shoulder, he practiced speeches in front of a mirror and even suspended a sword from the ceiling so that if he raised his shoulder it would hurt. To speak more clearly despite a lisp, he went through speeches with stones in his mouth.

He built an underground room where he could practice without interruptions and not disturb others, and since courts at the time were noisy, he practiced by the ocean, projecting his voice above the roar of the waves. His activities in the learning zone were very different from those in his performance zone. In the learning zone he did what Dr. Anders Ericsson calls deliberate practice. This involves breaking down abilities into component skills, being clear about which sub-skills to improve, staying outside the comfort zone, using frequent feedback with repetition and adjustments, and ideally engaging the guidance of a skilled coach. Activities designed for improvement are domain-specific, and great teachers and coaches know what they are and provide expert feedback. It is this type of practice—not mere repetition in the performance zone—that leads to substantial improvement.

Research shows that after the first couple of years in a profession, performance often plateaus. This happens in teaching, medicine, nursing, and other fields. Once people believe they are adequate, they stop spending time in the learning zone and focus only on performing, which is not a great way to improve. Those who continue to spend time in the learning zone keep getting better. The best performers deliberately set aside time—often weekly—for improvement: reading to expand knowledge, consulting experts, trying new strategies, soliciting feedback, and reflecting. Chess masters spend much of their time not playing games but predicting moves and analyzing them. Even typing can improve dramatically with short, focused practice aimed at increasing speed and reducing errors.

The performance zone still has great value. When undergoing surgery, for example, you want your surgeon to be at their best, not experimenting. The performance zone allows us to deliver high-quality results and can be motivating, while also giving us information about what to improve next. The path to high performance is alternating between learning and performance zones—building skills deliberately, then applying them. Beyoncé, for instance, is in her performance zone during concerts, but after each show, she watches recordings, identifies improvements, and provides detailed feedback to her team to implement the next day.

To spend more time in the learning zone, four conditions help: believing we can improve (growth mindset), caring about the skill, knowing how to improve (deliberate practice), and practicing in low-stakes situations where mistakes are safe. Many environments are unnecessarily high-stakes, making people afraid to take learning risks. Schools often send the message that mistakes are bad, and workplaces may focus on flawless execution, discouraging innovation. To foster growth, we should talk openly about when to learn and when to perform, and create spaces for each.

If trapped in high-stakes settings, individuals can still create low-stakes islands—safe spaces for experimentation—such as working with mentors, requesting feedback-oriented meetings, or studying independently. We can also reflect after performing and emulate experts. Leaders can lower stakes for others by sharing their own learning goals and mistakes, making it safe for everyone to grow. True confidence is about continuous learning. Instead of only performing, we can explore, experiment, and keep improving, making our best even better.