Josh Waitzkin is no stranger to excellence. An International Chess Master and a Tai Chi Push Hands World Champion, Waitzkin has a tremendous insight into what excellence presupposes and into what it requires. Moreover, he manages to expose this insight brilliantly in The Art of Learning. Many of his stories are so deeply intimate and so vividly described that it is impossible not to produce a strong reaction in both the mind and the heart of his readers. There is so much that one can take from this book, but I guess that what really stuck with me was the idea that excellence can only be achieved when one stays true to one's nature. Know thyself. Yet again, this is the key.
My favorite quotes & guidelines to achieving excellence
[A]ll situations can be handled as long as presence of mind is maintained.
The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.
Disappointment is a part of the road to greatness.
The fact of the matter is that there will be nothing learned from any challenge in which we don't try our hardest. Growth comes at the point of resistance. We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.
When uncomfortable, my instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to become at peace with it.
Problems set in if the performer has a brittle dependence on the safety of absolute perfection or duplication. Then an error triggers fear, detachment, uncertainty, or confusion that muddies the decision-making process.
I believe that one of the most critical factors in the transition to becoming a conscious high performer is the degree to which your relationship to your pursuit stays in harmony with your unique disposition. There will inevitably be times when we need to try new ideas, release our current knowledge to take in new information - but it is critical to integrate this new information in a manner that does not violate who we are. By taking away our natural voice, we leave ourselves without a center of gravity to balance us as we navigate the countless obstacles along our way.
Depth beats breadth any day of the week, because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.
One thing I have learnt as a competitor is that there are clear distinctions between what it takes to be decent, what it takes to be good, what it takes to be great, and what it takes to be among the best. If your goal is to be mediocre, then you have a considerable margin for error. You can get depressed when fired and mope around waiting for someone to call with a new job offer. If you hurt your toe, you can take six weeks watching television and eating potato chips. In line with that mind set, most people think of injuries as setbacks, something they have to recover from or deal with. From the outside, for fans or spectators, an injured athlete is in purgatory, hovering in an impotent state between competing and sitting on the bench. In my martial arts life, every time I tweak my body, well-intended people like my mother suggest I take a few weeks off training. What they don't realize is that if I were to stop training whenever something hurt, I would spend my whole year on the couch. Almost without exception, I am back on the mats the next day, figuring out how to use my new situation to heighten elements of my game. If I want to be the best, I have to take risks others would avoid, always optimizing the learning potential of the moment and turning adversity to my advantage. That said, there are times when the body needs to heal, but those are ripe opportunities to deepen the mental, technical, internal side of my game.
The unconscious mind is a powerful tool, and learning how to relax under pressure is a key first step to tapping into its potential.
Dirty players were my best teachers.
I learned from this book that...
... the unconscious mind, which can be tapped through conscious effort, is our biggest ally in the search for excellence.
... the biggest potential for growth comes from adversities.
... excellence requires self-introspection and psychological finesse.
... excellence, which in itself is very close to perfection, can be achieved once one becomes at ease with imperfection.
[A]ll situations can be handled as long as presence of mind is maintained.
The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.
Disappointment is a part of the road to greatness.
The fact of the matter is that there will be nothing learned from any challenge in which we don't try our hardest. Growth comes at the point of resistance. We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.
When uncomfortable, my instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to become at peace with it.
Problems set in if the performer has a brittle dependence on the safety of absolute perfection or duplication. Then an error triggers fear, detachment, uncertainty, or confusion that muddies the decision-making process.
I believe that one of the most critical factors in the transition to becoming a conscious high performer is the degree to which your relationship to your pursuit stays in harmony with your unique disposition. There will inevitably be times when we need to try new ideas, release our current knowledge to take in new information - but it is critical to integrate this new information in a manner that does not violate who we are. By taking away our natural voice, we leave ourselves without a center of gravity to balance us as we navigate the countless obstacles along our way.
Depth beats breadth any day of the week, because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.
One thing I have learnt as a competitor is that there are clear distinctions between what it takes to be decent, what it takes to be good, what it takes to be great, and what it takes to be among the best. If your goal is to be mediocre, then you have a considerable margin for error. You can get depressed when fired and mope around waiting for someone to call with a new job offer. If you hurt your toe, you can take six weeks watching television and eating potato chips. In line with that mind set, most people think of injuries as setbacks, something they have to recover from or deal with. From the outside, for fans or spectators, an injured athlete is in purgatory, hovering in an impotent state between competing and sitting on the bench. In my martial arts life, every time I tweak my body, well-intended people like my mother suggest I take a few weeks off training. What they don't realize is that if I were to stop training whenever something hurt, I would spend my whole year on the couch. Almost without exception, I am back on the mats the next day, figuring out how to use my new situation to heighten elements of my game. If I want to be the best, I have to take risks others would avoid, always optimizing the learning potential of the moment and turning adversity to my advantage. That said, there are times when the body needs to heal, but those are ripe opportunities to deepen the mental, technical, internal side of my game.
The unconscious mind is a powerful tool, and learning how to relax under pressure is a key first step to tapping into its potential.
Dirty players were my best teachers.
I learned from this book that...
... the unconscious mind, which can be tapped through conscious effort, is our biggest ally in the search for excellence.
... the biggest potential for growth comes from adversities.
... excellence requires self-introspection and psychological finesse.
... excellence, which in itself is very close to perfection, can be achieved once one becomes at ease with imperfection.
No comments:
Post a Comment