Practice

This week we had a lot of great reading and videos but probably what resonated with me the most this week were the chapters I read in the book, “Mastery” by George Leonard. The reading in the book this week covered the “five master keys” which are: Instruction, practice, surrender, intentionality, and the edge. Reading about practice as it pertains to mastership stuck with me the most.

In the chapter about practice, Leonard explains that one who is on a master’s journey conceives this word as a noun rather than a verb, “not as something you do, but as something you have, something you are…practice is the path upon which you travel, just that.” I have never thought about practice in this way. Practice has always been a verb for me, and something that I have done to learn something and then move on. Leonard shares a secret that, “the people we know as masters don’t devote themselves to their particular skill just to get better at it. The truth is they love to practice-and because of this they do get better.” How do I get to that place where I “love to practice?” As I ponder this I think it is just really about choosing a passion in my portfolio and start practicing, just for the sake of it. I think a love for practice can be developed as I do just that, practice.