How to Treat the Response to Disappointment As A Training Ground

Leo Babauta came up with the concept of ‘Beautiful Practice Ground: The Secret to Training Your Mind‘. I like it very much. The concept is to use those disappointment moments where we did not manage to do what we committed to, such as a new behavior or habit, as a learning moment.

“This habitual way of responding to difficulty is actually what’s standing in [our] way. Training the mind to respond differently in this exact kind of situation is probably the most important training [we] could do.”

“When you notice yourself having difficulty — someone is frustrating you, you are disappointed in yourself, you’re procrastinating on a hard task or habit you’re trying to form, you’re feeling resentful or criticizing yourself — start to recognize this as your Beautiful Practice Ground. And see it as a wonderful opportunity to practice.”

It is an exceptionally fruitful viewpoint to see our frustrations, stresses and guilt feelings as learning opportunities. Let’s pause, breathe and see what we can learn from it – and change our response from there.

When to you start identifying those new training grounds?