And here is the next part of the series “10 principles that helped me achieve my dreams…(and may help you achieve yours)”
For those who missed the big picture, here is the link 🙂
Today, we dive into the sixth principle: falling in love with the practice and doing projects that make us tick.
4 ideas to find pleasure in your practice
- Is my head straight?
- Are my arms well positioned?
- Am I leaning forward well to minimize my effort?
This is the process I followed when I was preparing (seriously) for my next run.
I learned this from the book “ChiRunning“.
I wasn’t trying to go faster, but I was running more quickly.
I wasn’t looking for distractions, but the time was flying by.
I enjoyed practicing, and this is an important key to progress in our small and large projects.
1/ Concentration brings satisfaction
“You should only do activities that you love.”
To strive for this ideal is an excellent thing.
But even when we do, there are still constraints that we have not (yet) managed to eliminate, automate or delegate.
I like to coach, write, and develop my business, but I don’t like to do my accounting.
So I delegated it to an expert who loves it 🙂
But I still have the preparation of the documents. And guess what? I don’t like it.
I will find a way to get rid of this stain. But for now, I have yet to realize it.
Why am I telling you this?
Even a task you don’t like can bring satisfaction.
I can hear you saying, “How is that possible? “
When we enter a phase of concentration (even on an activity that we do not enjoy), we get satisfaction from it.
That was the case for me yesterday when I spent 60 minutes catching up on March and April for my accountant. I don’t particularly like the activity, but being able to focus has given me a form of satisfaction. (or when I drew Naruto for…)
So imagine a project that is close to your heart. Practice and concentration help you to progress and multiply your satisfaction.
2/ No need to sit cross-legged
Photo by Benjamin Child on Unsplash
Although it’s not a bad idea 🙂. Yoga and meditation are beneficial.
By the way, I practice (almost) every morning a form of meditation; I call it my quiet time.
“I try to be immediate, to be totally present for all my work ” – Angela Mayou
But why not use our daily activities as a workout to develop our concentration?
And since we have plenty to do daily, there is no shortage of opportunities to improve.
Our practice becomes our playground with two advantages:
- We get more satisfaction from it.
- Concentration improves the result.
And if we can apply this new skill to a long-term project that we care about, we are close to happiness.
3/ Being focused in our practice is a form of love for others
Oh boy, up until then it made sense Dror, but now you’re going too far… 🙂
In the movie “Not Too Soon,” we see a dad busy with his career trying to please his daughter.
He asks her, “what do we do”.
She replies, “Nothing. I want to be with you without doing anything.”
Developing our focus helps us to be fully present with our loved ones.
And here I am, thinking about what goes on in the heads of ambitious readers of this newsletter (including me) who tend to convert every space of time into a productive activity.
Paying full attention to the people we love is a sign of love.
4/ When we think of others, we can include our leadership
Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash
“Among the leadership lessons I learned, the impact of making time for practicing good leadership strikes me as the most significant.”-General Collin
In the book “The Truth About Leadership,” James Kouzes and Barry Posner remind us that deliberate practice is essential to improve leadership.
“Living in a cave does not make you a geologist,” Anders humorously observes, and simply being in a management position does not make you a great leader.”
Being on auto-pilot all day does not help us to progress.
You can be a doctor, an accountant, a parent, a coach, or a friend and still not get better with time despite the number of hours you have on the clock.
But then, what makes it possible to improve?
” You can’t learn to be a good leader without putting in the time and practice.”
This is the deliberate practice. Choose a point of improvement. Active listening, for example, and practicing each interaction. The practice becomes the playground.
I no longer participate in a boring meeting, I improve and help people around me to progress thanks to my active listening.
It’s not what you think, what you know, what you say that helps you become a better leader; it’s what you do. Your leadership practice.
And this is where the coaching process that Marshall Goldsmith taught me works wonders.
- The leader chooses a behavior that they want to improve.
- Communicates it to its stakeholders.
- Asks them for suggestions on how it might progress.
- Undertakes to do so.
- And introduced it daily in his practice for a year, refining it each time a little more thanks to his stakeholders’ suggestions and his coach’s help.
It takes courage, discipline, and humility. But it works. I am fascinated by the changes leaders who take this path make.
This is an encouragement to all of us.
We have daily interactions with our friends, our families, our colleagues.
By focusing, we progress and help those around us do the same.
Conclusion.
“There is no way to happiness—happiness is the way.” – Thich Nhat Hahn
Going from “I’ll be happy when I have X” to “I find pleasure in what I’m doing by trying to achieve X” is a life-changing principle.
We are much more than our results.
Our transformation takes place on the journey through practice.
Let’s learn to take pleasure in each activity by developing our focus.
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Books to go further.
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
- Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
- The Practicing Mind Thomas M. Sterner (one of my best reads in 2023 so far)
- The Practice by Seth Godin. My summary here
In the same series :
- 10 principles that helped me achieve my dreams…(And that could help you achieve yours). Part 1
- Part Two
- Take 100% responsibility: the first principle to succeed in your wildest projects
- Clarity: focus on the horizon, not on our shoes. The second principle to succeed in your wildest projects
- Courage: dare to commit to your dreams without knowing how to achieve them.
- We have all the time we need to make our dreams come true
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PS: Whenever you’re ready, here are 2 more ways I can help you accelerate your growth through coaching:
- You are an individual: you have a penchant for action. You’ve achieved a lot. And yet you want more. Curious? Let’s connect for a free call and see if we can work together
- You want to be coached in the workplace: I help successful leaders become even better. And you only pay me if you succeed (yes, I am serious). Curious? Let’s connect for a free call and see if we can work together
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