Isn't learning something that comes naturally to us ? Afterall humans are curious creatures and we try to learn either imitating others , or by consuming knowledge thorugh books, videos etc.
But I found good recommendations about this book from some of my favorite programers and thinkers in twitter land. So I decided to checkout more on this ..and I am happy to admit that my initial perception was incorrect ,and reading this book was a really good decision .
This book is part self-help and part memoir. Johsh Waitzkin was a professional chess player early on in his life..after progresing with his Chess life, he changes course , gets interested in TaiChi and goes on to become a professional 'push -hands' player.
In this book he shares his perspective on learning, having the right mindset to compete /perform at the highest level of your capability. While the book is about learning, I found it more apt for competing at the highest levels. It gave me some insights on mental aspects of professional sportsmen. it is about beint prepared for every challenge that may comeup in high stakes competitions. The ideas and techniques provided can be adapted by anyone who wants to get their best from a competition , high pressure meetings , or anything that pushes our minds to adversity.
5*s. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes 'self-help' of 'professional improvement ' books.
Here are some excerpts that I found very interesting from the book.
"He had to teach me to be more disciplined without dampening my love for chess or supressing my natural voice. Many teaches have no feel for this balance and try to force their students into cookie-cutter moulds -pg 9 ( Josh W describing the mentoring philosophy of his first and favorite chess coach).
Some teachers rebel away so far away from being authoritarian that they praise all their players decision, good or bad. Their intention is to build confidence , but instead they discourage objectivity, encourage self indulgence and most importantly, create a dishonest relationship between the instructor and pupil that any bright child could sense. -pg 10.
they gave me some extra months of innocence , for which I am greatful - pg 11 (About his parents not forcing him to higher tournaments or media engagements after his initial wins).
Confidence is crucial for a great competitor. But overconfidence is brittle.We are too smart for ourselves in those moments - pg 17. (a problem that happens often with children who become quite sucessful ealy in their life/career).
Virtually all situations can be handled as long as presence of mind is maintained - pg 18
if ambitions spells probably disappointment, why pursue excellence - pg 29
De.Carol Dwek , a leading researcher in the field of developmental psychology makes the distinction between entity and incremental theories of intelligence.Children who are entiry theorists, that is , kids who have been influenced by their parents and their teachers to think in this maner are prone to use language like 'I am smart at this' and to attribute their success or failure to an ingrained and unalterable level of ability. They see their overall disciplice to be a fixed entity , a thing that cannot evolve. Incremental theorists , who have picked up a different modality of learning- lets call them 'learning theorists' are move prone to describe the results with sentances like 'I got it becuase I worked hard at it ' or 'I should have tried harder' . A child with a learning theory of intellgence tends to sense that with hard work, difficult material can be grasped - step by step, the novice can become the master. - pg 30
(A good explainer between different attitudes /approaches towards learning and outcome) .
Children who associate success with hard work tend to have a 'mastery oriented response to challenging situations , while children who see themselves as plain 'smart' , 'dumb' or 'good' at something have a learned helplessness orientation - pg 30.
Some of the brightest kids prove to be the most vulnerable to becoming helpless, becuase they feel the need to live upto and maintain a perfectionist image that is easily shattered - pg 31.
Parents and teachers have an enormous responsibility in forming the theories of intelligence in students and children - pg 32.
The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic ,long term learning process and not to live in a shell of static , self mediocrity - pg 33.
I loved the struggle that is the heart of chess. These kids were crippled by the horizon imposed on them by their teachers - pg 38
One of the critical strengths of a superior competitor in any discipline is the ability to dictate the tune of the battle - pg 42.
Many people in various fields take the process first approach , as against the results first approach and transform it to avoid confronting results. - pg 44.
'the beauty of roses lie in its transience. It is drifting away even as we inhale ' - pg 46
(a beautiful quote. Perhaps the best one from the book.Success or failure - it is all transient. And thats the beauty of it. Do not cling on to it).
glory had anything to do with happiness of long term success - pg 49,50
in performance training ,first we learn to flow with whatever comes. Then we learn to use whatever comes to our advantage .Finally , we become self sufficient,and create our own earth quakes; so our mental process feeds itself explosive inspirations, without the need for outside stimulus. - pg 54.
soft zone & hard zone -- gooe explanation and analogy . Read it . pg 54.
musicians , actors, athletes, philosophers, scientists , writers understand that brilliant creations are often born of small errors - pg 63.
I would occasionally leave the playing hall and sprint fifty yards outsid. This may have seemed strange to spectators, but it served as a psychological flush - pg 64.
'the only people for me are the mad ones , the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a common place thing but burn , burn burn like fabulous yellow roman candles - (- John Kerouac , On the Road).
a heart break can give the greatest insight into the value of love - pg 84
we have to release our current ideas to soak in new material , but not to so much that we lose touch with our unique natural talents - pg 88.
Some Book references : On the Road , The Dharma Bums, Tao Te Chung.
he was very mortal. No fancy words, no spiritual claims. He didnt expect the bowing and the scrapping usually associated with Chinese martial arts. 'if I can do it , you can do it was his message - pg 99
(describing his TaiChi/Push-hands master William Chen).
The huge element of Tai Chi is releasing obstruction ,so the body and mind and flow smoothly together - pg 99.
The martial philosophy behind PushHands in the language of the 'Tai ChiClassics' is to defeat a thousand pounts with four onces.
'Investment in loss' .Investment in loss is giving yourself to the learning process.In the Push Hands, it si letting yourself to be pushed without reverting back to old habits- training yourself to be soft and repetitive when your body doesnt have any idea how to do it and wants to tighten up - pg 107.
They were locked up by the need to be correct - pg 107
(about some of his peers at the Push Hands competition and not wanted to play and fail ).
if in the beginning I had needed to look good ,to satisfy my ego, then iI would have avoided that opportunity and all the pain that accompanied it - pg 112.
it is much harder to maintain that humility and openness to learning when people are watching and expecting you to perform - pg 113.
it is essential to have a liberating incremantal approach that allows for times when you are not in a peak performance state - pg 113.
it is common knowledge that Jordan made more last minute shots to win the game for this team than any other player in the history of NBA..However, what made him the greatest was not perfection, but the willingness to put himself on the line as a way of life. Did he not suffer all those iights when he sent twenty thousand (Chicago) Bull fans home heartbroken? Ofcourse .But he was willing to look back on the road to basketball immortality - pg 113
(On Micheal Jordan's willingness to get burnt time and gain and put himself in a tough spot)
The TaiChi system can be seen as a comprehensive laboratory for internalizing good fundamentals - pg 117.
the great performer can deliver a virtuoso performance without hearing a thing ,because she knows how the notes should feel ,coming out even if her primary monitor - her ears are temporarily unavailable- pg 122.
if you have watched for some of the most explosive hitters in boxing world,for instance Mike Tyson or Muhammed Ali you've seen fights where knockouts look completely unrealistic ... they have condensed large circles (routines) into very small ones and made their skill virtually invisible to the untrained eye - pg 122.
it is rarely a mysterious technique that drives us to the top, but rather a profound master of what may well be a basic skill set - pg 123.
we have to learn to be at peace with imperfection - pg 127
One thing I have learned as a competitor is that there are clear distinctions between what it takes to be decent ,what it takes to be good and what it takes to be great and what it takes to be among the best.
if I want to be the best, I have to take risks that others would avoid,always optimizing the learning potential - pg 132.
Let setbacks deepen your resolve.You should always come out of an injury or a loss better than when you went down - pg 133.
chunking relates to the mind's ability to take lots of information, find a harmonizing logically consistent strain and put it together into one mental file that can be accessed as if it were a single piece of information - pg 139
(about 'chunking' .A popular tactic for learning /memorizing complex items).
The stronger chess player is the one who is less attached to a dogmatic interpretation of principles- pg 141.
profoundly refined martial artisty can sometimes appear mystical to less skilled practitioners -- they have trained themselves to perceive and operate within segments of time that are too small to be percieved by untrained minds - pg 147.
Its amazing how much you can learn about someone when they get caught in the rain ..some will run with their hands over their heads, others will smile and take a deep breath while enjoying the wind. What does this say about their relationship with discomfort. - pg 153.
while refined mental competitors can have extended dialogues (with their own psychological states) most people are relatively unaware of their psychological subtelities.-
In every discipline , the ability to say clearheaded ,to be present ,cool, under fire is what seperates the best from the mediocre -pg 172.
we cannot expect to teach excellence if 'going through the motions' is the norm of our lives - pg 172.
the secret is that everything is always on the line.The more present we are at practice, the more present we will be in competition ,in the boardroom, at the exampe, at the operating table, the big stage - pg 172.
Looking back over my games, I saw that when I had been playing well, I had two to ten minute crisp thinks.When I was off my game, I would fall into deep calculation lasting over twenty minutes and this 'long think' often led to inaccuracy - pg 179.
On the power of routines : Players who are able to relax in brief moments of inactivty are almost alwyas the ones who end up coming through when the game is on the line.This is why , eminent tennis players of the day, like Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras had those strangely predictive routines of serenly picking their racquets between the points weather they won or lost their last exchange - pg 179
He had the best recovery time of any athlete I've ever seen . (About Micheal Jordan) - pg 179
The more he could let things go , the faster he was in the next drive - pg 179
regardless of the discipline , the better we are at recovering , the greater the potential we have to endure and perform under stress - pg 180.
physical flushing and mental clarity are very much intertwined - pg 182
(about doing some physical activity to clear the mind).
the fighter who can recovery in the thirty seconds between the rounds and in the irregular intervals between matches will have a huge advantage over a guy who is still huffing and puffing , mentally or physically from the last battle - pg 182.
In long chess tournaments , that may last for over two weeks, one of the most decisive factors is the competitors ability to sleep at night. - pg 186.
Not only do we have to be good at waiting ,we have to love it. Because waiting is not watching , waiting is life - pg 187.
I believe an appreciation for simplicity , the everyday- the ability to dive deeply into the banal and discover lifes hidden richeness is where success lies ,let alone happiness emerges - pg 187.
if there is nothing in your life that feels serene, medidation is the perfect hobby to help you discover the launching point in your search for a personalized routine. - pg 189
good advise about building a routine that gets you 'in the zone' .Like a run every morning etc for peak performance - pg 189 to 191.
Tai Chi meditation is the practice of ebb and flow , soft and hard, yin and yang , change -
to walk a thorny road , we may cover each and every inch with leather, or we can make sandals for your feet - pg 199.
righteous indignation will get me nowhere - pg 202.(About staying calm inspite of reacting).
its easy to talk about nonviolence when I am in a flower garden. The real internal challenge is to maintain that fundamental perspective when combined by hostility , aggresion and pain - pg 203.
I believe that at the highest levels, performers and artists must be true to themselvesThere can be no denial , no repression of true personality or the creation will be false - pg 210 .
We are built to be sharpest hwen in danger, but protected lives have distanced us from our natural abilities to channel our energies.Instead of running from our emotions or being swept away by their initial gusts, we should learn to sit with them , become at peace with their unique flavors ,and ultimately discover the deep pools of inspiration .
Once we build our tolerence for turbulence, and are no longer upended by the swells of our emotional life, we can ride them and even pull up speed with the slopes - pg 211.
Truly superb competitive psychologists are finely attuned to their diverse moods and to the creative potential born of them - pg 212.
Learners and performers come in all shapes and sizes.Some people are aggressive, others are cautious. Some of us like questions, others prefer answers - pg 217.
the greates artists and competitors are masters at navigating their own psychologies, playeing on their strengths, controlling the tone of the battle so that it fits their personalities. - pg 217.
'The real art of learning takes place as we move beyond proficiency , when out work becomes an expresion of our essence' - pg 218.
