Episode #45 - The Practicing Mind; Master Any Skill Or Challenge By Learning To Love The Process By Thomas M. Sterner

Hello, Self Developers and welcome to The Patrick Kelly Podcast for Self-Development, where I will be reviewing  audible books on Self-Development that can change your life for the better this year, and years to come. It is said that if we keep on doing what we always did, we will keep on getting what we always got. In other words, to change our output, we first have to change our input.

Today is November 21, 2021, and This is Episode 45, and today, we will be reviewing the Audible Book, “The Practicing Mind; Master any Skill Or Challenge By Learning To Love The Process” By Thomas M. Sterner. This audible book will teach you how to build discipline and character by learning how to love the process of practicing, in order to achieve your goals. Of all the riches available to us in life, self-discipline is surely one of, if not the, most valuable. All things worth achieving can be accomplished with the power of self-discipline. With it we are masters of the energy we expend in life. Without it we are victims of our own unfocused and constantly changing efforts, desires and directions. Self-discipline, focus, patience, and self-awareness are interwoven threads in the fabric of both true inner peace, and contentment in life. Together, living in the present moment and being process-oriented is the path that leads us to these all-important virtues. This magical path is there for everyone. It offers its untold riches to us all. “The Practicing Mind” is about remembering what you already know at some level, and bringing that memory into the present, where it will serve to both place you onto the path and empower you to partake in the journey. Everything in life worth achieving requires practice. In fact, life itself is nothing more than one long practice session, an endless effort of refining our motions. When the proper mechanics of practicing are understood, the task of learning something new, becomes a stress-free experience of joy and calmness, a process which settles all areas in your life and promotes proper perspective on all of life's difficulties.

Chapter 1: The Learning Begins: The desire to learn is only the first step. Without an understanding of proper practice mechanics and without an awareness of our own internal workings, we are almost assured of using up the initial inspiration and motivation, which propels us into any endeavor, leaving us feeling we cannot reach the goal that had seemed so worth striving for, just a short time before. The practicing mind is quiet. It lives in the present and has laser, pinpoint focus and accuracy. It obeys our exact direction, and all of our energy moves through it. Because of that, we are calm and completely free of anxiety. We are where we should be at that moment, doing what we should be doing and completely aware, of what we are experiencing. There is no wasted motion, physically or mentally. If you are not in control of your thoughts, then you are not in control of yourself. Without self-control, you have no real power, regardless of whatever else you accomplish. If you are not aware of the thoughts that you are thinking in each moment, then you are the rider with no reins, with no power over where you are going. You cannot control what you are not aware of. Awareness must come first.

Chapter 2: Process Not Product: The word “practice” and “learning” are similar but not the same. The word “practice” implies the presence of awareness and will. The word learning does not. When we “practice”, we are involved in the deliberate repetition of a process with the intention of reaching a specific goal. The words deliberate and intention are key here because they define, the difference between practicing something and just learning something. Practice encompasses learning but not the other way around. Focus on the process, not the product that the process was meant to achieve.” It’s a paradox. When you focus on the process, the intended product takes care of itself with fluid ease. When you focus on the product of your effort, you immediately begin to fight yourself and experience boredom, restlessness, frustration and impatience. When you focus your mind on the present moment, on the process of what you are doing right now, you are always where you want to be and where you should be.

Chapter 3: It’s How You Look At It: Most of the anxiety we experience in life comes from the feeling that there is a point of perfection in everything that we involve ourselves with. Whatever or wherever that perfection is, we are not. We continually examine everything in our lives, consciously or unconsciously, compare it to what we feel is the ideal, and then begin to judge where we are in relation to that ideal. When you develop a present-minded approach to every activity you are involved in, and like the flower, realize that at whatever level you are performing, you are perfect at that point in time, you will experience a tremendous relief from the fictitious, self-imposed pressures and expectations that only slow your progress. Nature knows what works because it does not have an ego to deal with. It is our ego that makes us create false ideas of what perfect is, and whether we have reached it. True perfection is not a finite thing. It is not a specific number, as in how much you weigh or how much you make. It is not a specific skill level that can be reached in an activity regardless of how long and how hard you pursue it.

Chapter 4: Creating The Habits We Desire: You cannot change what you are not aware of, and that truth is no more important than in the world of self-improvement. We need to be more aware of what we are doing, what we are thinking, and what we are intending to accomplish in order to be more in control, of what we are experiencing in life. For most of us, this is a problem because we are so disconnected from our thoughts. Everything we do is a habit in one form or another. How we think, how we talk, how we react to a criticism, what type of snack we instinctively reach for, are all habits. Even when faced with a circumstance for the first time, our response to it comes from habit. Habits and practice are very interrelated because, what we practice will become a habit. This is a very important point because it underscores the value of being in control of our practicing minds. If we can understand how we form habits and become aware of what habits we are forming, we can begin to free ourselves by intentionally creating the habits we want, and not the other way around. We can gain control of who we are and what we are becoming in life.

Chapter 5: Perception Change Creates Patience: Patience is defined in the dictionary as “quiet perseverance. Experiencing impatience is one of the first symptoms of not being in the present moment, not doing what you are doing, and not staying process oriented. Staying in the present moment is one of the hardest lessons to learn. We are always dropping out of the “now” and letting our minds, lead us around by the nose to who knows where. If you force your mind to stay in the present moment and to stay in the process of what you are doing, many of your problems will melt away. Most of what we worry about never comes to pass. The first step toward patience is to become aware of when your internal dialog is running wild, and dragging you with it. If you are not aware of this when it is happening, which is probably most of the time, you are not in control. To free yourself from this endless and exhausting cycle, you must step back and notice the real you, the Observer that just quietly watches all of this as it is happening. As you practice staying in the present, you will become more aware of the difference, between the real you and the ego’s internal dialog, without trying to do so.

Chapter 6: The Four “S” Words: The four “S” words are Simplify, Small, Short, and Slow. As you will see, these components are very interrelated and flow back and forth into one another. As you work on developing control of your practicing mind, it is important to work in a fashion that makes staying in the process as easy as possible. When you work at a specific project or activity, simplify it by breaking it down into sections. Don’t set goals that are too far beyond your reach. Setting unrealistic goals creates frustration and invites failure. This can make you doubt your abilities. The success of attaining short-term goals will generate motivation that propels you along in the process, and you won’t suffer the mental fatigue you experience when you bite off more, than you can chew. Be aware of what your overall goal is, and remember to use it as a rudder or distant beacon that keeps you on purpose. Break the overall goal down into small sections that can be achieved, with a comfortable amount of concentration. You will find that focusing on small sections is so much easier and gives you repeatable success.

Chapter 7: Equanimity and “DOC”: Equanimity is defined as calmness and even-temperedness. Equanimity is a virtue worth every effort to develop. One of the signs that someone possesses this virtue is that they are undisturbed by the moment-to-moment ups and downs they experience in daily life. Equanimity comes from the art of non-judgment. Non-judgment quiets the internal dialogue of our mind. Every experience, every word that is spoken is evaluated and judged by filtering it through our opinions, and our past experiences. Judgment requires the process of evaluation, the process of comparison. Judgments are always based on some preconceived idea of perfection. Ask yourself, who is listening to you talk to yourself? Who is aware that you are observing the process of an internal dialogue? Who is this second party that is aware that you are aware? The answer is, your true self. The one who is talking is your ego or personality. The one who is quietly aware, is who you really are, the Observer. The more you become aligned to the quiet Observer, your true self, the less you judge.

Chapter 8: Teach And Learn From Children: If you have children, it is only natural to want to pass on to them what you have learned in your own life, from both your struggles and your triumphs. We do this in an effort to save our children from having to repeat, the same learning process we went through. The irony here, when we are talking about engaging the practicing mind, is that in some ways, children are ahead of adults in the way they process their lives. We have something to offer them, but we also have something to learn from them. Time perception is an integral part of the difference between adults and children. Many adults make the mistake of thinking that because someone is younger than they are, they can’t possibly learn something from them. This is both an egotistical and insecure point of view. Children have so much to offer because we can learn from them, if we listen to ourselves as we are teaching them.

Chapter 9: Your Skills Are Growing: In every moment of your life your skills are growing. The question is, in which direction? When we understand how we work and stay in harmony with that knowledge, we feel a sense of control while we sit back and enjoy the experience of life flowing past us with ease. This knowledge commands us to stay in the present moment, which brings awareness to all that we do. This awareness gives us the opportunity to take control of the choices we make. It teaches us to stay focused on the process, using the overall goal as a rudder to steer our course. When we make staying focused on the process our real goal, we experience a sense of success in every moment. When we are in the present moment, we experience life as it happens and as it really is, rather than through the filters of anticipation, as in the future; or through analyses, as in the past.

Closing Thoughts: On scale of 1 to 5, I would give this audible book, a solid 5, for instructions on how to embrace the practicing mind by staying in the present, and becoming aware of the Observer in all of us.

*To find out more about this audible book, Go To: www.audible.com and download this audible book, or go to www.tomsterner.com to find out more information about the Author.

*Remember To Subscribe to this Podcast on Your favorite Podcast Platform, so You do not miss an Episode, and also remember to share this Episode via text or email with Friends and Family and other People that You care about.

*For More Episodes of The Patrick Kelly Podcast for Self-Development and a free, did I say free, yes free 30-day trial of audible plus; Go To: www.thepatrickkellypodcast.com to sign up today.

*If You would like to donate a dollar or more to the support of this Podcast, click the donate button at www.thepatrickkellypodcast.com or go to $patrickkellypodcast on cash app and I will be sure to thank You on the next Episode.

Shout out to Paul for donating to the Patrick Kelly Podcast For Self-Development. Thank you very, very much.