The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process

by Thomas M. Sterner

Into the second piano, I began to realize how wonderful I felt. No nervous stomach, no anticipation of getting through the day, and no tight muscles in my shoulders and neck. Just this relaxed, peaceful, what-a-nice-day-it-is feeling. I would even go so far as to describe it as blissful. Anything you can do in a rushed state is surprisingly easy when you deliberately slow it down. The revelation for me came, however, when I finished the second piano. I very slowly put away my tools one by one, with my attention on every detail. I continued my effort at slowing down as I walked to my truck in a parking garage a block away. I walked very slowly, paying attention to each step. This might sound nuts, but it was an experiment. I was experiencing such an incredible feeling of peacefulness in a situation that usually tensed every muscle in my body that I wanted to see just how far I could push the feeling. When I got into the truck, its clock radio came on with the turn of my key, and I was dumbfounded. So little time had passed compared to what I had usually spent on the same job in the past that I was sure the clock was incorrect.