Tag: practice

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Deft and Daft

Well, pick one

The difference between “deft” and “daft” is only one letter.

The meanings of the words above, however, are worlds apart.

Words matter. How we use them, matter. Words, not just the two above, but all words, affect how we show up around people and how we interact with projects.

The words we use are a foundational piece (believe me there are others) of the narratives that people have. Those narratives are used to shape and justify just about anything.

Seems like a wide berth, right, well, sometimes things are.

Makes sense then, to turn yourself back into a student when you can and get better at communicating.

How much time per week are you practicing your communications skills?

Which letter do you want?

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A Reason I Love Music

Process bleeds into the work

I am a huge fan of music, not just as a listener, but also in watching it happen.

One thing I love is that the process can seem mystical. A bunch of guys messing around in a room can, in a flash, turn into something harmonious, so much so it stays in our brain for weeks or years on end.

The trick is though; it isn’t all mystical.

Yes, some of the credit belongs to our muse, you can’t spell music without it. However, most of the work is done before the moment ever happens, and a lot of it is unseen.

The heavy lifting happens during practice. For musicians, that is the practice room. For comedians, it is the open mic. For you, it could be your desk at 8:30 AM before anyone shows up.

It’s where you try things, fail, and fail harder. Professionals know that the level of practice is the level of play.

There are more blood, sweat, and tears in an experts practice room then they can even stop and explain to you rationally.

Except they are explaining it, right in the music.

So are you, in your work.

Three questions:

  • Have you created the margins to have a practice room?
  • If so, how hard are you pushing yourself there?
  • What do you think you can be better at, and how do you make it a practice for tomorrow?

 

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Perpetual Creation for Perpetual Curation Means Taste

Taste is important.

Our taste is the bedrock of our create practice. If our impact on the world around us were an algorithm, “taste” would have a real role in the results.

That is why creation is necessary. You get better by showing up.  And, you’ll get better faster the more often you do it. Perpetually create.

Creation alone won’t get you there though. There are far too many people who make things for the sake of making things.

To get our taste honed, we need to create a practice of perpetual curation. One way to do this is to build a practice of feedback. You’ll need to learn how to ask for feedback from people whose taste you appreciate as well as performing feedback for others around you.

Having a practice where you do both is powerful.

Show up.

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Showcase Your Taste

Get out there

Honing your taste is great.

However, if you are in the market of affecting change, make sure you also showcase.

Showcasing means making something happen publicly that puts your taste into the world.

“Showcase” isn’t “practice.”

Practice is where you show up every day. It’s the dojo. Few folks watch what happens in the dojo.

The showcase is where you present the results of that practice. It’s the stage. Most people know you for the stage.

There is a trap, where we use one to forsake the other. The language for avoiding either sound the same. It’s always “I’m too good, or I don’t need to.”

However, you need both if you want to effectively use your taste.

Showcase us what you’ve got.

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Practice the Right Way Every Time

You play how you practice

Every time you decide to practice a skill, you develop muscle memory. Your body learns how to react through the repetitions it goes through.

That is why it’s important to practice how you play. 

If you decide to practice sloppily, any time you have to “play” you have to think about the “proper” way to do it.

Each action starts to cost you willpower. 

You have limited willpower.

If you practice a certain way, it isn’t a matter of if that way is appearing when it counts, it’s a matter of when.

If the right way is natural, then that way will show up when it counts.

So practice how you want to play. You’ll love it when the stakes are “real.”

And you can save that willpower for a courageous act (art), instead of just keeping afloat (survival).

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Add Rules. They Can Help….

Make your bed every morning.

Make sure you do ten push ups.

Make sure you write a blog.

Those three things are usually the first words to myself when I wake up. These tasks are the first things I do every morning as my morning practice. I don’t usually miss them.

That wasn’t always the case. I used to put them on a list and promise myself I would get to them throughout the day. I didn’t give them a time of day.

For example, if I try to cook breakfast, talk to my roommate, or take a shower before I get started, my chances of success go way down. Not to mention if I pushed them back even further, success probability would tumble even more.

Look for constraints to add when you need to add more weight, they help your focus.

I made  a bright-line rule, before I do anything else I can’t leave my room until these tasks are done. My completion rate went up. Forcing the task to being the first thing I do when I woke up made it hard to avoid. With no excuses, the work gets done, and I get to finish every day knowing I’ve completed something, no matter what else happened.

 

 

 

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Practice vs “Content” – You Need Both

When I create, I do it with two different worldviews

Practice – A daily, consistent creation that forces me to create rain or shine. i.e. this blog.

“Content” – A specialized creation meant to showcase. i.e., this LinkedIn Post.

This method frames my mindset. I can’t look at my practice as “content” because if I consider this blog all “content,” then I have a way to pat myself on the back for the bare minimum. I can’t look at my “content” as practice because it needs to speak to a worldview and be specialized to tell a story.

Both are important because they feed each other.

Great content puts eyes on your practice.

Great practice levels up your ability to make content.

 

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Acting! 3 Lessons Learned

My acting class has ended. One of the most thought-provoking and uncomfortable experiences of my life has concluded.

The class had inspired some great posts, dealing with my thoughts on quitting, my flabby imagination, and other ideas.  Just sitting with this new idea and having to deal with it 2 times a week forced me to deal with some things. There are three big ideas that I found that sum up how I felt about the class, and why it was important to me and my growth.

  • Commitment – The most important leap you can make in any scene is a leap of commitment. “Doing the doing!”It is commitment that creates the potential of the scene. My belief before the class lead me to believe that commitment was an on/off switch. I didn’t know that there are several layers to it. The work before a scene matters and things such as memorizing lines, developing a point of view,and gathering the act of doing will all add layers to that commitment. Commitment isn’t the end all be all, and I still have a fear of commitment, since I love guarantees,but understanding more of the work  that it will be good, only that the potential is there. The first step of conquering a fear is understanding, and this class really helped with that.  I love the other applications as well. For example, project management. The idea is making sure that you add in a “pre-work” time to all projects. Figure out what needs doing , find out how you feel about it and where it fits in the plan, and learn what you will be doing. It sounds like commonsense however it is remarkable how many times I have gone somewhere and found that no one has done any commitment work, expecting it.
  • Active Listening – Listening is a skill. We have trained ourselves through life to hear, but rarely to listen. Listening is hard work. In acting, listening is the difference between a scene that is brilliant and thought-provoking versus a scene that puts you to sleep. I learned that I am a really bad listener, and through working through the class, realized that I am only a bad listener now. When it’s done well, it creates connection. When actively listening, it is very hard to ignore what you are getting, it is as if I get an insight to anguish. I think of it like a highway. When I drive, I like the highway with as many lanes as possible. It gives me options. I get to switch lanes, stay in a lane, go fast, go slow, or keep switching. The difference between hearing and listening is the same as a one lane and a six lane highway. It’s that big of a leap.   I will look to improving this skill because it is paramount in communication and I want on that highway as much as possible
  • “Uncomfortability” – Being uncomfortable leads to growth. I haven’t been that uncomfortable in that long of a period for a long time. I grappled with expectations, I didn’t want to look bad, I wanted to fit in. All these things sunk me to the point of wanting to escape. Even as I type this, there is a fear I dance with of being honest.  The resistance was strong. I found myself dancing with depression. When dealing with this I wasn’t the most pleasant person. In comedy, the ability to flip your uncomfortable feelings into something mean or biting is fun. We  laugh off mean things to each other. When we do that in ‘real life’ people get away from us. There is an understanding. For a lot of us, we put the muzzle on willingly knowing our nature. It is my regret that I did this and there is still a part of me that feels like that’s a cop-out, and maybe it is. Whatever it is, this did give me some insight into who I am, and where my brain goes wrong.

There is something about this art that interests me now. There is a huge world out there. There are a lot of books, videos, and classes on the subject. This was a great introduction. I got to get to deal with myself and learn some applicable things that will serve me well, regardless if I get the opportunity to pursue this further. Thinking back on it, it was one of the best investments I have made, and I recommend it to anybody fully.

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Practice and Silence

People lose themselves in the boredom of practice. It is very draining, dealing with repetition. Who wants engagement with the same stimulus, over and over again?

Practice isn’t a door to the public. Deliberate practice isn’t something that is worth viewing at all. It is hard, it is scary, and when it’s right, it’s  ugly. It is marathon, and you test your endurance against the silence that exists when no one cares and no one wants to see.

There in lies the secret. The best work connects to silent endured. The difference between a professional and an amateur lies in the quiet parts, where our brains make noise, be seen, and disengage from the uncomfortable. And there is nothing more uncomfortable than silence.

The silence is daunting and engulfs all to become the star of the show.  This is a massive strike against the ego, because we all want stardom. There is something in us that wants eyes on us, no matter what the consequences. We fight against that constantly. Even the best try to break out and reach comfortable land, where everyone else is. Al Pacino still goes to The Actors Studio, Tom Brady still goes to the field to throw, Chris Rock still heads to the comedy club. The greatest understand the surrender to silence, and how much work it takes to not pick up arms against it.

To be engaged, we stand outside the public, to see and understand what is happening in the world. That place is silent, but it allows us to see, and ultimately create something that connects. You cannot get to the connection without first getting through to the silence and surrendering. What practice helps us with ultimately, is the surrender to the silence and that silence is the first step to making something great.

So practice deliberately, when and where you can. Engaging in your practice, even if it is just 5 minutes a day, is getting you closer to great art.

 

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Deliberate Practice

This weekend was pretty good. I am learning how to do comedy. It is a great feeling.

This week I will be focusing on Work. I want to do this deliberate practice course – I really would like to learn how to focus on deep work.

Ill be paying my bills today and figuring out when I want to do some traveling. I am not sure how this will work, but I really want to see some more of the country.

And that is Monday.

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