WoW 098: On small practices, Meaningful Action, part 5

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Words of wisdom.

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98.

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On small practices meaningful action.

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Part five.

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You could think of your life as a set of small interconnected practices.

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How you wake up, how you transition to start work, how you take intentional

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breaths, how you read and how you learn, how you choose entertainment,

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to what degree and when, how you plan.

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The list goes on and on.

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Each of these are skills that you can develop to grow in meaningful action.

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Identify a small practice that you want to grow in.

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Make that practice as small as possible.

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You can make a practice small by setting a time limit.

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For example, I will meditate three minutes a day.

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I will take 10 intentional breaths before starting each meeting.

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This is just one minute of intentional breathing, but it can make you more

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thoughtful and calm in a meeting.

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Another example, I will read at least one page a day from my book.

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One page can turn into 10 or 60 minutes.

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Consistently reading more books is a simple and powerful way to grow, or

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you could make your practice small by focusing on the smallest micro

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skill of a larger set of skills.

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For example, I will practice focusing on listening to the feeling

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words, people communicate or imply.

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It's an easy thing to do if you're mindful of it.

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Once you start to make this a regular practice and can easily identify the

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feeling words people use, you can add in additional communication, micro skills.

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A small practice or skill helps you because it makes it more likely

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that you'll show up and showing up is necessary to develop a habit.

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And practicing a habit is necessary to develop mastery.

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So how do you grow in a skill?

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Identify the sub skills that make up that skill.

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Practice each one intentionally.

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With a small focus, you'll identify more clearly what goes well and what doesn't.

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As you progress, you'll be encouraged by the improvements.

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The more you enjoy the process, the more you'll keep doing it.

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It can be quite helpful to track your progress, whether that's journaling

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about it, talking to a friend regularly, or tracking whether you

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do or don't do the practice each day.

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Once you engage in a small skill consistently and without too

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much effort, progress to another

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build on these small skills intentionally, and you'll develop

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the larger skillset over time.

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Quotes,

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first two quotes by Robert Green in his book, mastery.

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You must convince yourself of the following.

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People get the mind and quality of brain that they deserve

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through their actions in life.

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The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.

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Aristotle described virtue as a kind of craft.

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Something to pursue just as one pursues the mastery of any profession or skill.

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Quote, we become builders by building and we become harpists

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by playing the harp he wrote.

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Similarly, then we become just by doing just actions temperate

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by doing temperate actions.

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Brave by doing brave actions.

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Virtue is something we do.

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It's something we choose not once.

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For Hercules, crossroads was not a singular event.

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It's a daily challenge.

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One, we face not once, but constantly, repeatedly.

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Will we be selfish or selfless?

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Brave or afraid, strong or weak, wise or stupid?

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Will we cultivate a good habit or a bad one?

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Courage or cowardice?

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The bliss of ignorance or the challenge of a new idea?

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Stay the same or grow the easy way or the right way?

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By Ryan Holiday in his book, discipline is Destiny.

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Questions.

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What 10 minute or less practice can you develop into a habit that will

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have a compounding impact on your life?

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What skill do you want to grow in and what are a handful of micro skills that you can

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identify that make up part of that larger skillset, which will you start practicing?

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End note.

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Being intentional about growing in and practicing small skills is essential

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to being on the path to mastery and living with meaningful action.

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Live wisely, Josh.

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Pss.

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Share what skill you're working on with me and with one other friend.