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    The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life — Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process
    The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life — Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process
    The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life — Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process
    Ebook157 pages2 hours

    The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life — Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process

    By Thomas M. Sterner

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    In those times when we want to acquire a new skill or face a formidable challenge we hope to overcome, what we need most are patience, focus, and discipline, traits that seem elusive or difficult to maintain. In this enticing and practical book, Thomas Sterner demonstrates how to learn skills for any aspect of life, from golfing to business to parenting, by learning to love the process.

    Early life is all about trial-and-error practice. If we had given up in the face of failure, repetition, and difficulty, we would never have learned to walk or tie our shoes. So why, as adults, do we often give up on a goal when at first we don’t succeed? Modern life’s technological speed, habitual multitasking, and promises of instant gratification don’t help. But in his study of how we learn (prompted by his pursuit of disciplines such as music and golf), Sterner has found that we have also forgotten the principles of practice — the process of picking a goal and applying steady effort to reach it. The methods Sterner teaches show that practice done properly isn’t drudgery on the way to mastery but a fulfilling process in and of itself, one that builds discipline and clarity.

    By focusing on “process, not product,” you’ll learn to live in each moment, where you’ll find calmness and equanimity. This book will transform a sense of futility around learning something challenging into an attitude of pleasure and willingness.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNew World Library
    Release dateApr 12, 2012
    ISBN9781608680917
    The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life — Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process
    Author

    Thomas M. Sterner

    Thomas M. Sterner is the founder and CEO of the Practicing Mind Institute. As a successful entrepreneur, he is considered an expert in Present Moment Functioning, or PMF™. He is a popular and in-demand speaker and coach who works with high-performance industry groups and individuals, including athletes, helping them to operate effectively in high-stress situations so that they can break through to new levels of mastery. Prior to writing the bestseller The Practicing Mind, he served as chief concert piano technician for a major performing arts center, preparing instruments for the most demanding performances. An accomplished musician and composer, he has also worked in the visual arts and as a recording studio engineer. In his downtime Tom is a private pilot, avid sailor, and proficient golfer. He lives in Wilmington, Delaware, and enjoys spending time with his two daughters and in his recording studio.

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    Reviews for The Practicing Mind

    4.5/5

    79 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5
      El libro es muy buen y da tipa prácticos para ayudar a enfocarse en el ahora, pero habría sido bueno que diera un poco más de ellos o que recomendará más ejercicios para ayudar a desarrollar esa habilidad.
    • 4/5
      The matrix of the book, which I will not go into detail, is of a subtle priority that one overlooks in our daily lives. And, it has been enriching to learn and a good behavioral tug.
    • 5/5
      Must Read Book for Everyone Trying to make sense of Life and Happiness. Easy Read
    • 5/5
      Wow. words can't begin to describe how much i loved this book.
      A must read for any musician , and in general a must read book in my opinion.
      AMAZING
    • 5/5
      Awesome book. Must read to learn patience. Thanks for this lovely book. Thomas
    • 4/5
      Good and very simple book to read. Author indroduced 4-S and DOC concept very well.
    • 4/5
      Really good advice on being present and process-oriented. I will definitely apply this wisdom to my life.
    • 5/5
      As a musician who both teaches and sells instruments, I find this not only helpful for myself but very insightful for my students and customers. I've already been applying this to my life and have noticed less worrying and better results at what I am trying to accomplish. You accomplish the most when you aren't worried about the results.
    • 5/5
      I think this book is a must read for anyone anywhere looking for peace of mind and a satisfying life.
    • 5/5
      Powerful book which illuminates the power that present-moment awareness or mindfulness has over how we experience and shape our lives.

      It's a short, clear and easy read, but an important one.
    • 5/5
      It's interesting
    • 5/5
      one of the best books i have ever seen and read about setting goals in your life and and achieve them :)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      The practicing mind - Thomas sterner

      The key points that I have learnt from this book

      Chapter 2 : Process not product
      - In order to understand the good mechanics of a process we first need to be able to focus on the present moment and let go of all the judgements and negativity that comes from the past or future.
      - To fulfill that one must simply :
      - •     Keep himself process-oriented.
      - •     Stay in the present.
      - •     Make the process the goal and use the overall goal as a rudder to steer his/her efforts.
      - •     Be deliberate, have an intention about what he wants to accomplish, and remain aware of
      - Keep in mind that fulfilling patience and discipline requires both of them
      - And that there are no goals in life because life itself is the goal and discovery.

      Chapter 3 : how you look at it
      - the message of the chapter is to emphasize on the importance of being a present-moment oriented individual . Meaning that it's for the sake of a good process to avoid being consumed by thinking about the future or straying into the past , however , this way of the thinking can be used as inspirational.
      - Another important message is related to the stress and lack of full competence at work that we may fall into. And that is because we divide them based on our nonexistent prejudgments , which includes dividing them into Work vs non-work (recreational) and how we stress in one because we are not present momentarily coz we have surpassed " the beginner's phase" and how we are fully absorbed and processed in the other.

      Chapter 4 : forming good habits
      - To form or eliminate a habit :
      1- you have to be aware of notion or thought process
      2- decide objectively where you want to end up and what emotions will get you there.
      3- work through these emotions without emotions with the intentional act of repetition over a short period of time.
      - To replace a bad habit however and kick back into a normal state of mind :
      1- be predetermined, objective , nonjudgmental and non emotional "they have no power over me", "this is what I have to and will do , simple"
      2- find a trigger that serves as a reminder.

      Chapter 5 : the perception about patience
      The message of the chapter simply is that if a person wants to be process oriented, then he has to learn to be patient. And that is accomplished by :

      The first step of patience is being aware of the internal dialogue and where it's dragging a person to stay at the moment and the process.

      The second step is simply accepting that there is no such thing as an endpoint for perfection. True Perfection is always evolving within us. Just like a flower.

      Chapter 6: the four S words
      "Simplicity in effort will conquer the most complex of tasks"

      To make a task or activity simpler and more proficient to do, one must simply simplify a task by setting goals that are realistic and away from perfection and by breaking it into smaller portions and shorter in terms of time and most importantly slowly ( At the pace you are aware of).

      Remember that this will only make your concentration on the task easier and that being process oriented is easier , and that it will terminate your ego and mental judgment that "things need be rushed".


      Chapter 7 : DOC

      It is important as to bel aligned with the observer in you. One way to do that is by :
      Do , observe , and correct is the simple method to handling any difficult situation . Make it your aim to first to be aware of the anxiety and be motivated to deal with it . Then simply do what ever is the activity you are doing . Observe if you are getting closer to the goal or not in a non-judge based detached manner . And simple correct and redo the thing again.

      Chapter 9:

      In every moment of your life, your skills are growing. The question is, in which direction?








      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    The Practicing Mind - Thomas M. Sterner

    difficulties.

    When I was a child, I studied the guitar, though I was so young at the time (just four years old) that I don’t remember much of it. However, as I look back on the music I played, it’s fair to say that I acquired a substantial amount of skill. Yet I quit after two years and did nothing much, musically speaking, for the next several years. At the age of nine, like so many kids growing up, I began studying the piano. Once again, this lasted briefly, this time only ten months, and the reason for this was that I really didn’t enjoy practicing. If asked why, I probably would have said that it was boring and difficult, and that I felt as if I wasn’t getting any better. Though my perspective may have been accurate at the time, it stemmed from the fact that I wasn’t very good at the process of practicing music, or practicing anything else, for that matter. Unfortunately, I was far from sophisticated enough to realize this. However, because of my love for music, I eventually returned to the piano and did go on to learn to play.

    During my late teens and early twenties, when I was still single, I pursued music very seriously and achieved a fair amount of success. I could compose and arrange in just about any style. I played as a professional in many settings, from the nicest country clubs to the worst taprooms. I put together a rather expensive recording studio and became acquainted with some of the better-known songwriters and artists in the worlds of pop, jazz, and country. By the time I hit my midtwenties, I was a pretty good musician by most people’s standards.

    My musical development continued, and by the time I reached my midthirties, I began to realize that something had really changed in me with regard to my feelings toward practicing. I not only loved to practice and learn anything but found the total immersion of myself into an activity to be an escape from the daily pressures of life. I even felt cheated if I was deprived of an opportunity to practice something, such as a particular aspect of my golf swing. Much more important, I was beginning to understand that all of life is practice, in one form or another. Until then, like most people, I mistakenly associated the word practice only with art forms such as music, dance, and painting. I did not see dealing with a cranky child, an overburdened work schedule, or a tight monthly budget as actions that required applying the same principles as learning music did.

    As my comprehension of the relationship among life, mental discipline, and practice grew, I began to direct all my effort into defining the fundamentals of the practicing mind, and into observing when and how often I applied these fundamentals in daily living. I wanted to better understand the changes in my perspective that had created such a turnaround in my attitudes toward the process of learning something new. Had I just grown up and matured, or was something more defined, something more tangible, developing in my mind? I knew I processed life differently than I had in the past, but what were the mechanics of the new system? That was what I needed to know.

    I didn’t realize at the time that it was my experience of learning music growing up that had laid the foundation that would help me understand both the mental and spiritual struggles in which I now found myself as I searched for answers. Those early experiences — of wanting to accomplish something while dealing with a personality that was not particularly well disciplined at the time — went a long way toward helping me understand why we fail at endeavors that might be very important to us. My successes and failures in music provided me with a point of reference to which I constantly compared my daily experiences. That is why you will see references to music throughout this book. It is not, however, necessary that you yourself have studied music to feel a kinship with me as I describe the aspects of music that taught me so much. Since the nature of the practicing mind exists in all activities of life, you will, no doubt, be able to relate my experiences to those that you have had in your own life.

    As important as music was to my learning process, it wasn’t the activity that first inspired change in how I approached daily life. Instead, I first became aware of the shift in my perspective toward practicing when, on my wife’s advice, I took up golf in my early thirties. I think, initially, the reason I didn’t see my early days of musical study as being a backdrop for this change in awareness was because those experiences were so far removed from the present day. Indeed, by this time in my life, music was second nature to me, and my practice regimen was so natural that I no longer had the perspective of a struggling student. Golf, on the other hand, was totally new to me. I knew almost nothing about it, and I had no preconceived ideas of how it should be played.

    In the beginning, my father-in-law would take me out to play on his course, and I would rent or borrow some old clubs. I quickly experienced the frustrations of the game, but what made a bigger impression on me was that I didn’t see anybody playing who was really any good. Most of the people I observed had been playing golf for as long as I had been playing piano, and yet in their own activity they hadn’t gotten out of book one, so to speak. They played terribly and seemed clueless about how to fix their problems with the game.

    What I mean is that even though they had played golf weekly for many years, they still couldn’t accomplish basic things, such as getting the ball up in the air. They couldn’t hit the ball where they were aiming, they never improved, and they had no idea why. By that time, they should have been able not only to hit the ball hundreds of yards at their target but also to do things like make the ball go high or low and curve its flight from right to left at will. Armed with their total lack of knowledge of how they should swing the golf club, or what they actually looked like when they did, they were repeating the same lack of fundamental skills over and over again and expecting different results. To compare this to music, it would be like watching someone who had been playing the piano for twenty years get frustrated at his inability to play more than one note at a time because he didn’t realize he was supposed to play with his fingers, not his elbows.

    Perhaps my biggest advantage was that, even though I was not uncoordinated, I had not excelled in any sports growing up. Therefore, I assumed I would need to find an instructor to guide my learning process, lest I end up like so many other eternally frustrated golfers. Also, because I had grown up trying to learn to play musical instruments (besides guitar and piano, I also studied the flute and saxophone), I expected that mastering the skills that would bring both consistency and joy to the game would take time and applied effort. It never occurred to me that golf would be a quick or easy study. I was undaunted by, but yet aware of, the fact that despite my ability to play the piano well, I had fallen short of many of my musical goals. I comforted myself with my knowledge that I was an adult now, armed with an adult mentality and all that I had learned from those failures. I was sure this would see me through to achieving my goals in this newfound endeavor.

    What I learned from golf was that all my failures in music had stemmed from my lack of understanding the proper mechanics of practicing, of the process of picking a goal, whatever that may be, and applying a steady effort toward achieving it. Perhaps most important, I realized that I had learned how to accomplish just that without the frustration and anxiety usually associated with such an activity.

    Golf provided me with my first opportunity to quantify these mechanics into something tangible to someone with my upbringing; before this point, I was like everyone who had come before me. I wanted the joy and benefits that are rewarded to the individual who perseveres at working toward a lofty personal goal. I wanted to experience the self-discovery that one attains by picking a goal and steadily working toward it, regardless of the pitfalls and frustration. This desire to learn is only the first step, though. Without an understanding of proper practice mechanics, and without an awareness of our own internal workings, we’re almost certain to use up the initial inspiration and motivation that propelled us into our endeavor, leaving us feeling we cannot reach the goal that had seemed so worth striving for just a short time earlier.

    Why bother with any of this? This is a question I asked myself. I mean, really, what is the relevance of this to how we live our lives day to day? How does understanding and developing this mindset impact what we experience moment by moment, what we accomplish, and who we are? The answer is that this mindset influences everything. It is the blank page on which we draw our lives. It determines not only what we draw but also what we are able to draw. It shapes every aspect of who we are, what we become, and how we see others. It is self-discipline and self-awareness. It gives us patience with ourselves, with others, and with life itself. It is certainly one of the most powerful and meaningful gifts we can give ourselves — and yes, only we can give this gift to ourselves.

    Our culture today is one built on multitasking. Multitasking is emphasized not just to increase productivity (which never seems to be enough), but for survival. We teach it to ourselves, and we teach it to our children. We are always doing and thinking of more than one thing at a time.

    Think about the simple act of driving a car. What is the first thing many of us do after we start the car? We turn on the radio. Now we are driving and listening to the radio. If someone is with us, we are carrying on a conversation on top of that. If we are alone, we might talk on a cell phone. Our minds are juggling many activities, and our energies are very dispersed. Even though this tires us completely, it has become normal for us as our world moves faster and faster. We don’t even question the levels of absurdity that multitasking reaches at times.

    Years ago, I took one of my daughters to a skating party sponsored by the sixth grade of her school. I told her I would sit inconspicuously in the concession area and read while she skated. Here is

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