You Become What You Practice

January 28, 2017

When people hear the word practice they often think about sports. Practicing endless free-throw shots for basketball, kicking balls for soccer, football plays, katas in martial arts, etc. You get the idea. We need to think bigger than that. Way bigger, but smaller. You’ll see what I mean.

Think everyday life.

What is it that you practice every single day? Think of practice as habits.

Are you brushing your teeth daily, showering, sleeping every day?

That’s practicing, but we don’t look at it that way. If you practice those and get better your life improves. If you don’t, then it won’t. What and how you choose to practice changes your life

When you wake up what do you practice for breakfast?

Is it a box of prepackaged food on the go or a wholesome meal? The more you practice that choice the better you get.

What do you practice for movement?

Do you exercise? Do you move? Or do you sit on your butt all day long?

What do you practice in relationships?

Are you working late every night and never seeing your family? Or do you put things down let them rest and be in the moment with your loved ones?

Do you practice reading or watching TV?

Do you practice encouraging someone and being kind or are you judgmental and negative?

Do you sit quietly enjoying the moment or glued to your phone?

Here’s the secret to success

Whenever you begin to practice anything you simply make small directed effort on a daily basis and then it doesn’t seem so overwhelming. It’s not an all or nothing approach.

Let’s take some examples from above:

You don’t have to completely change your breakfast on day one. How about just adding a piece of fruit and taking away the jelly on your toast? Instead of that extra coffee have water.
You don’t have to go to the gym two hours every single day. How about going for a 5 to 10 minute walk at lunch?
You don’t have to completely drop your work. How about leaving an hour earlier than usual?
You don’t have to read War and Peace, just read 5 pages of positive stuff a day.
You don’t have to be Mother Theresa, just say a kind word to someone having a rough day. Even someone you don’t know. Imagine that?
You don’t have to be a monk, just step away from the phone for five minutes.

Here are Five simple rules that you can follow to help you practice

In order to begin it doesn’t have to be perfect. Just start.
Stop judging and berating yourself on the outcomes
Remember that you’re doing more than that 95% of the population.
Small becomes big with momentum in the game of practice
More is not better, better is better

Enjoy your practice.