The Art of Learning : Part 3

This my last post with my notes from The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin.

Part 3 : Bringing It All Together

The better we are at recovering, the greater potential we have to endure and perform under stress. Cardiovascular training can have a profound effect on your ability to quickly release tension and recover from mental exhaustion. When doing interval training (e.g. weightworkouts) monitor precisely how much time to leave between sets so that your muscles have ample time to recover, but are still pushed to improve their recovery time e.g. 3 sets of 15 reps -> 45 s. rest, 3 sets of 12 reps -> 50 s. rest, 3*10 -> 55 s., 3*8 -> 1 min. In time with consistent work, rest periods can be incrementally shortened.

1st step to mastering the zone is to practice the ebb and flow of stress and recovery => interval training. With practice, increase the intensity and duration of your sprints, and gradually condense rest periods. Incorporate the rhythm of stress and recovery into all aspects of your life.

Spend a few minutes a day doing some simple meditation practice in which your mind gathers and releases with the ebb and flow of your breath. Get better at releasing tension and coming back with a full tank of gas in your everyday activities, both physical and mental. Learning how to relax under pressure is a key first step to tapping into the potential of the unconscious mind.

A roadblock to release the tension during breaks of intense competition is the fear of whether we will be able to get it back. Important to relax between two matches. In long tournaments, the ability to sleep at night is one of the most decisive factors.

Simplicity, the everyday is where success, let alone happiness emerges.

Building a trigger for the zone :

• when are you closest to serene focus ? (e.g. taking a bath, jogging, swimming, listening to music, ...)
• create a four- or five-step routine that builds up to this activity: e.g.
  1. eat a light consistent snack for 10 min
  2. 15 min of meditation
  3. 10 min of stretching
  4. 10 min of listening to music you like (always the same long song)
  5. perform the activity you chose
• go through this routine everyday for at least a month
• after that replace step 5 by an activity for which you want to be in the zone

The result is that a physiological connection is formed between the routine and the activity it precedes. Once the routine is internalized, it can be used before any activity and a similar state of mind will emerge. Determine your personal routine by your individual taste.

Next step is to gradually alter the routine so that it is similar enough so as to have the same physiological effect, but slightly different so as to make the "trigger" both lower maintenance and more flexible. Key is to make the changes incrementally. This type of condensing practice can do wonders to raise our quality of life, once a simple inhalation can trigger a state of tremendous alertness, our moment-to-moment awareness becomes blissful.

Key to nutrition in unpredictable environments is to always be prepared for exertion by being nourished, but never have too full a stomach and thereby dull your senses.

3 steps to resilient, self-sufficient performance :

1. learn to flow with distraction, like a blade of grass bending in the wind
2. learn to use distraction, inspire yourself with what initially would have thrown you off your game
3. learn to re-create the inspiring settings internally

Only way to succeed is to acknowledge reality and funnel it, take the nerves and use them. We must be prepared for imperfection. If we rely on having no nerves, on not being thrown off by a big miss, or on the exact replication of a certain mindset, then when the pressure is high enough, or when the pain is too piercing to ignore, our ideal state will shatter.

Soft zone approach is much more organic and useful than denial. Instead of running from our emotions or being swept away by their initial gusts, we should learn to sit with them, become at piece and with their unique flavors and ultimately discover deep pools of inspiration.

Introspect. Discover what states work best for you and build condensed triggers so you can pull from your deepest reservoirs of inspiration at will.

Once you have found the profound refinement of a skill, no matter how small it may be, we can then use that feeling as a beacon of quality as we expand our focus onto more and more material. The technical afterthoughts of a truly great one can appear to be divine inspiration to the lesser artist. Create a body of theory around a fleeting moment of inspiration.

This where my notes from the last part of The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin. As in part 1 and part 2 does the last part contain lots of personal stories from Josh with as last chapter a great story about Josh becoming a Push Hands World Champion.

The Art of Learning : Part 2

In this post you will my notes from the second part of The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin.

Part 2 : My Second Art

Investment in loss is giving yourself to the learning process. Put your ego on the side. Aim to minimize the number of times you make the same mistake, by having an eye for consistent psychological and technical themes of error.
Essential to have a liberating incremental approach that allows for times when you are not in a peak performance state.
Great ones are willing to get burned time and again as they sharpen their swords in the fire.

Have a beginner's mind and invest in losses.

Depth over Breadth

Plunge into the detailed world of the micro in order to understand what makes the macro thick. Our attention deficit culture is an obstacle to this. We are bombarded with more an more information (TV, internet, ...). There is a constant supply of stimulus -> potential to turn us into addicts, always hungering for something new and prefabricated to entertain us.
Then when nothing exciting is going on, we might get bored, distracted, separated from the moment -> so we look for new entertainment.
If caught in this rhythmes, we are like tiny current-bound surface fishes, floating along a two-dimensional world without any sense for the gorgeous abyss below. When these socially induced tendencies translate into the learning process, they have a devastating effect.

Making smaller circles : subtle internalization and refinement is much more important than the quantity of what is learned. Depth beats breadth any day of the week, because it opens a channel for the intangible, unconscious, creative components of our hidden potential.

3 critical steps in a resilient performer's evolving relationship to chaotic situations :

• 1. learn to be at peace with imperfection.
• 2. learn to use that imperfection to your advantage.
• 3. learn to create ripples in your consciousness, little jolts to spur us along, so we are constantly inspired whether or not external conditions are inspiring.

It's important to undulate between external and internal (concrete vs abstract, technical vs abstract) training. If your opponent is temporarily tied down qualitatively or energetically more than your are expending to tie him down, you have a large advantage. You have to make obstacles spur you to new creative angles. You should always come off an injury or a loss better than when you went down.

Intuition is our most valuable compass in this world. It's the bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind.
Road to mastery :

• start with the fundamentals
• get a solid foundation fueled by understanding the principles of your discipline
• expand and refine your repertoire, guided by your individual predipositions while keeping in touch with what you feel abstractly to be the essential core of the art.

The result of this is a network of deeply internalized, interconnected knowledge that expands from a central, personal locus point.

Chunkin : mind's ability to assimilate large amounts of information into a cluster that is bound together by certain patterns or principles.
Carved neural pathways : process of creating chunks and the navigation between chunks.
The conscious mind can only take in and work with a certain limited amount of information in a unit of time. Making networks of chunks by practicing moves huge piles of data to the unconscious. That way your consciousness has less to deal with and can focus on details. The key is practice.

This was part 2. I left out all the personal stories which greatly exemplifies the advices. On to the last part.

The Art of Learning : Introduction

The second book I want to talk about here is The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance by Josh Waitzkin. This book is all about the road to excellence and how he managed to first become a chess master and then a World Champion martial artist.

I really enjoy reading this book. Its an easy and entertaining book with examples and stories from his life coupled with the insights he gained throughout all these years of learning. But lets get started with my first notes.

Part 1 : The Foundation

Advice to teachers :

• first get to know one another
• don't only tell, but prove it (show it)
• earn respect, win trust
• keep balance between personal style of the student and formal training
• keep love for the field alive, don't let technical material kill it
• be a guide, discuss instead of lecturing
• ask questions (about the thought process)
• help the decision making process, make them think

Deliberate practice is the key. Practice a lot, experiment, try out, take the lessons, repeat.
Take breaks from the intensity of practice.

"Entity" and "incremental" theories of intelligence

enity theorist	incremental theorist
intelligence and skill level perceived as a fixed entity	with hard work, difficult material can be grasped
more brittle and prone to quit when challenged	step by step the novice can become a master
"learned helplessness orientation"	"mastery oriented response" when presented challenging situations
It's a parenting responsibility.
Smart boy!	Great job !
It's not your thing	Study a little harder

It's never too late

The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of a static, safe mediocrity. Usually growth comes out at the expense of previous comfort or safety.

Successful people shoot for the stars, put their hearts on the line in every battle, and ultimately discover that the lessons learned from the pursuit of excellence mean much more then the immediate trophies and glory.

• draw wisdom from every experience, "good" or "bad"
• first focus on the essentials, for example in chess focus on end games instead of openings
• see losing as an opportunity to grow
• critical strength of a superior competitor is the ability to dictate the tone of the battle
• good competitors tend to rise to the game of the opposition

Process-first approach : praise good concentration, a good day's work, ... When winning, spotlight on the road to that moment and beyond opposed to the glory. But when we have worked hard and succeeded at something, we should be allowed to smell the roses. When losing, disappointment is a part of the road to greatness, try to learn the lessons.

As adult we need to put ourselves out there, give it our all, and reap the lesson, win or lose. We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.

Hard zone vs Soft zone

Learn to flow with whatever comes.
Mental resilience is a critical trait of a world class performer.
Don't avoid discomfort but become at peace with it.

Important to regain presence and clarity of mind after making a serious error (take a deep breath, ...).
Brilliant creations are often born of small errors.

Study form to leave form

Learn the hard from the soft, learn this from that.
In fields of learning and performance:

• Careful balance of pushing yourself relentlessly, but not so hard that you melt down. Muscles and mind need to stretch to grow, but if stretched too thin, they will snap.
• Competitor should always look for stronger opponents to spur growth, but also keep winning enough to maintain confidence.
• Release current ideas to soak in new material, but not so much that we lose touch with our unique natural talents.

This are my notes from the first part of three from The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance. On to the next part.