I recently completed reading this book "The Practicing Mind" by Thomas M. Sterner. A very short book, written in jargon-free language,this book focuses on the vexing problem that we all face which goes something like this :
"You had a new found enthusiasm in an activity , say exercising. You promptly joined the gym, bought new track suit and so forth...Next, you started the exercise activity with commitment to be steadfast . After a few initial sessions, your initial enthusiasm begins to taper off and you have trouble maintaining the interest and discipline. It becomes harder and harder to keep up with the exercise routine. You begin making excuses to yourself like, " I will make it up in the next session or will add one more session before the end of week before going to work." This is all folly though, as you would not keep up with your commitments letting things slide until ,Exercising as a goal would have gotten off your goals list. Finally , you have a feeling of let down as you have not completed something that you wanted to. Eventually, you lose all the interest in exercising endeavor and begin looking for the next one to fill in the void"
As the title states, this book emphasizes on cultivating the habit of Practice..practice that is required for any art form ,be it Painting, Music or Golf that require fundamental skills such as self-discipline, focus, patience and self-awareness. More importantly, this books teaches how to pursue a chosen endeavor without anxiety in a stress-free manner.
"You had a new found enthusiasm in an activity , say exercising. You promptly joined the gym, bought new track suit and so forth...Next, you started the exercise activity with commitment to be steadfast . After a few initial sessions, your initial enthusiasm begins to taper off and you have trouble maintaining the interest and discipline. It becomes harder and harder to keep up with the exercise routine. You begin making excuses to yourself like, " I will make it up in the next session or will add one more session before the end of week before going to work." This is all folly though, as you would not keep up with your commitments letting things slide until ,Exercising as a goal would have gotten off your goals list. Finally , you have a feeling of let down as you have not completed something that you wanted to. Eventually, you lose all the interest in exercising endeavor and begin looking for the next one to fill in the void"
As the title states, this book emphasizes on cultivating the habit of Practice..practice that is required for any art form ,be it Painting, Music or Golf that require fundamental skills such as self-discipline, focus, patience and self-awareness. More importantly, this books teaches how to pursue a chosen endeavor without anxiety in a stress-free manner.
Check out this book and I am sure you will not feel disappointed!
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