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November 16, 2021 - January 26, 2022
‘making the maximum effort during every point because I realize that that is where the true value lies.’
their peak performance never comes when they’re thinking about it.
Obviously, the “I” and the “myself” are separate entities or there would be no conversation, so one could say that within each player there are two “selves.” One, the “I,” seems to give instructions; the other, “myself,” seems to perform the action. Then “I” returns with an evaluation of the action.
Moving more quickly than they thought they could, they have no time to plan; the perfect shot just comes. And feeling that they didn’t execute the shot deliberately, they often call it luck; but if it happens repeatedly, one begins to trust oneself and feel a deep sense of confidence.
The first skill to learn is the art of letting go the human inclination to judge ourselves and our performance as either good or bad.
development. The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change; yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.
THE FIRST INNER SKILL to be developed in the Inner Game is that of nonjudgmental awareness.
Letting it happen is not making it happen.
Often when we are rallying we trust our bodies and let it happen because the ego-mind tells itself that it doesn’t really count.
Interesting.
To Self 2, a picture is worth a thousand words. It learns by watching the actions of others, as well as by performing actions itself.
Getting the clearest possible image of your desired outcomes is a most useful method for communicating with Self 2, especially when playing a match.
Letting go of judgments, the art of creating images and “letting it happen” are three of the basic skills involved in the Inner Game.
fundamentally, experience precedes technical knowledge.
“No teacher is greater than one’s own experience.”
Once you learn how to learn, you have only to discover what is worth learning.
If you think you are controlled by a bad habit, then you will feel you have to try to break it. A child doesn’t have to break the habit of crawling, because he doesn’t think he has a habit. He simply leaves it as he finds walking an easier way to get around.
Awareness of what is, without judgment, is relaxing, and is the best precondition for change.
Natural focus occurs when the mind is interested.
Consciousness could be called the light of lights because it is by its light that all other lights become visible.
But when your attention is on the here and now, the actions which need to be done in the present have their best chance of being successfully accomplished, and as a result the future will become the best possible present.
All of us have flashes of oneness . . . When we’re completely immersed in the moment, inseparable from what we’re doing.”
Our minds leave the reality of the present only when we prefer the unreality of the past or future.
We live in an achievement-oriented society where people tend to be measured by their competence in various endeavors.
The grade on a report card may measure an ability in arithmetic, but it doesn’t measure the person’s value.
What is seldom recognized is that the need to prove yourself is based on insecurity and self-doubt. Only to the extent that one is unsure about who and what he is does he need to prove himself to himself or to others.
It is when competition is thus used as a means of creating a self-image relative to others that the worst in a person tends to come out; then the ordinary fears and frustrations become greatly exaggerated.
only by being a winner, will they be eligible for the love and respect they seek.
The surfer waits for the big wave because he values the challenge it presents.
Wow
Why? Because it is those very obstacles, the size and churning power of the wave, which draw from the surfer his greatest effort.
Winning is overcoming obstacles to reach a goal, but the value in winning is only as great as the value of the goal reached.
“Oh, that poor boy; how badly he must feel to have been beaten by someone so much younger.”
Self 1 was the name given to the conscious ego-mind which likes to tell Self 2, you and your potential, how to hit the tennis ball.
It comes from being more independent—not necessarily more solitary, but more reliant on one’s own inner resources for stability.
