Practice = Professional
We were talking a few weeks ago about Seth Godin’s new book, The Practice.
What exactly is a practice?
What it’s NOT is preparation for the Real Game.
The practice is the game.
Nor is a practice a commercial enterprise as, say, a “legal practice” or a “practice in internal medicine.”
The phrase I prefer is “having a practice,” as in “She has a yoga practice” or “He has a martial arts practice.”
A practice, in my definition, is
a dedicated daily application of time and effort toward the goal of actualizing one’s higher self.
That’s a mouthful, I know. But it boils down to nothing fancier than being a pro.
A pro shows up every day.
A pro puts in a full day (even if that day only lasts an hour) every day.
A pro is committed lifelong.
A pro sets no aspiration (of success or recognition or financial reward) beyond her practice itself. A pro’s practice exists for the practice alone.
It took me twenty-eight years (from age twenty-four to age fifty-two) to publish a novel. The good news is that those years without any conventional reward forced me to answer the question, “Why am I doing this?”
It couldn’t be for money because I wasn’t making any, nor was there any such prospect on the horizon. Likewise out of reach were artistic recognition or fame or even notoriety. (I might have started with such aspirations … and indeed I did. But years of failure burned them out of me.)
My answer to “Why am I doing this?” could be only, “For the work alone.”
For the fun of it. For the satisfaction of learning, of getting better. For how it made me feel at the end of the day.
That’s a practice.
When the student of martial arts enters the dojo, she enters barefoot, out of respect for the space and for the purity of her intentions. At the threshold, she presses her palms together and bows to the sensei, to her teacher, again out of respect to the enterprise and gratitude for the assistance her master is about to render.
The student leaves behind her, outside the door of the dojo, all base or profane aspirations, all mundane distractions, all cares and concerns of the material world.
That’s a practice.
Within the sacred space that is the fighting floor, the student is humble but aggressive. She is prepared to take blows and to deliver them. There is no such thing as “loser” or “winner” on the practice floor. All are here to serve a higher purpose, to seek, in the training and conflict between and among one another, to realize the best of themselves.
That’s you and me every day at the easel, at the piano, at the keyboard.
That’s a practice.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
I needed this reminder today – more often than not, I show up here on Wednesdays and find the message I most need to hear – as always, thanks!
Here! Here! Mary, I feel the same way!
Dear Steven, Thank you so much for your work and inspirations! Love them.
I’m a singer and voice coach and resistance bloked so many years of my vocal expression…Your wisdom and approach to it is a medicine to me.
Great article about the Practice.
Have a wonderful day
I’ve been following a guy named James Clear — reading his short weekly mailer, listening to some of his podcast conversations with Sam Harris, Rich Roll, and others. In his book “Atomic Habits,” he sings from the same sheet of music as Steve is today. His chapter on how your habits shape your identity says:
■ The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.
■ The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner.
■ The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician.
My wife and I have been doing daily morning meditation practice for maybe two years. My goal isn’t to walk around “watching my breath” all the time. My goal is to be able to watch my thoughts and have the ability to say, “I’m having an angry thought,” rather than “I have BECOME angry.”
When I think about today’s theme, I wonder: We’re here in this space (Steve’s house) together because we think of ourselves as writers, artists, or simply humans who want to create and connect. We might start out by saying, “I want tips or hacks on how to write my book (or my screenplay or paint my paintings or start my business),” and later come to the understanding that “I want to BE a writer/painter/entrepreneur.” But maybe even that objective is a level removed from a deeper truth. We want to “BE a singer/sculptor/poet” because it’s leading us somewhere else. It’s the connection we want, a being a poet is a practice that helps us find our connection to others. I dunno… I’m just making this up as I go along.
Joe – I love your comment and how it relates to the post today. So often we get driven by an end result without appreciating the steps (practice) that gets us there. It also seems when we arrive at the destination, it is different than we intended, but so are we!
Joe, I have been reading Atomic Habits too and I just last night read the chapter on practice so this was very apropos – especially as I had just done my vocal exercises! It was like an affirmation. I actually AM a professional singer but after 22 years the spiritual lessons in a sort of Zen and the Art of Archery way is the goal.
This is exactly the right info for the start of a new and better year. More important than a goal is to show up and practice.
Elaine… I’m sure I’m not the only one to read Steve’s posts and say, “How does this connect with other things that have coming across my windshield lately.”
Tessa… Funny that you’d have just read that chapter in Atomic Habits. Other point: I like your voice. https://youtu.be/4N1Ks82RL2Q
Love it. Thanks, Steve. I read Seth’s book after you first blogged about it, and I really enjoyed it.
I do therefore I am.
George,
Well said.
bsn
These posts are such excellent reminders of why we keep at it.
When ‘practice’ is a verb, and not a noun, you’re on the right track!!
I think “the practice” helps us connect to the ultimate source. It serves as a reminder that the Truth is quite plain and simple but difficult to see when hidden beneath the layers of materialistic endeavors. It is during “the practice” that we let ourselves be vulnerable and know ourselves for who we truly are. It is indeed sacred as Steve pointed out. Thank you for the beautiful reminder about “the practice”.
Steve: “the Practice”
Joe: “connections to others.”
Good stuff, both. The world can be very small. I woke up at 4:54 this am. Six minutes before my alarm. I stumbled to the writing chamber and hammered away on edit work provided by my editor for chapters 14 and 15 of my current work. This after a low-morale day yesterday.
Nothing sexy about it. Work done before the paying jobs starts. Resistance beaten for another AM. Done by rolling up the sleeves and entering the arena for the next round of good stuff from my talented editor– a pro, who is good at what he does; a guy keeping me honest and making me better.
My good editor’s name: Joe Jansen (the guy in the rectangle above this post) 🙂
Brad… I was going to reply to your recent email, but let me respond to it here. Only helping you make better something that is already excellent. Editing the third in your Brotherhood of the Mamluks trilogy, horse-warriors of the 13th century, I’m reminded constantly that the sense of place in these novels is informed by your having trodden the Mongolian steppe and sands of the Levant as part of your research. Glad to be in the arena and helping.
https://www.amazon.com/Chains-Nobility-Brotherhood-Mamluks-1/dp/0999633856
Gentleman; thanks for the link; I just ordered one for myself today. Looks outstanding!! Andrew
Thank you, Andrew.
I use the prompt “530” to start my day every day. I stands for getting out of bed at 5:00am and writing 500 words then studying Thomas Aquinas or Story Grid for 30 minutes. I mark an x on my calendar to track my success each day.
Truedat. Across the artistic domain. The slow drip of one average day after another.
Here’s a tip of the hat to Steve:
https://www.classical915.org/post/love-fifth-sight-becoming-composer
I like this. In Yoga, we show up to the mat with the intention of giving yourself the gift of the moment. With writing, we show up to our laptop or notebook with the intention of giving ourselves to our muse to create.
I needed this today…thank you!
Thank you Steven!
Spot on what I needed this morning! Forty years a painter, glass artis, and plugging away writing a book about artmaking memoir. Practice , its the key to giving life purpose.
Thank you, Steven! You are right! The practice must be its own reward. We must do it because it’s right and good and true and beautiful to continue our practice. There is no mastery without practice. There is no real and lasting victory without practice. The practice is everything, and I trust that my practice will change the world for the better…someday. And if it doesn’t, at least it has changed me into who I am – a humble yet powerful soul. I will not stop my practice in this life or the next. Death will not stop me.
Yes Mr Pressfield. Thank you for bringing my attention to the question “Why am I doing this?” Yes … it is for the work alone, for the fun of it, for the satisfaction of learning, of getting better, for how it makes me feel at the end of the day. Needed exactly that … this wednesday.
Really enjoyed your post, Steve. I needed that reminder today. And excellent comments by all. Thanks, everyone!
Thanks, Steve,
That was necessary. I am just starting this game and it is good to hear, how long one must practise before getting any rewards. I am still figuring out what exactly I want to write, for whom and with how much detail and it frees me to hear, how long you practiced, before you got a book out. Seems I should better choose a daily routine I could enjoy most of the time and stories I like to write ( most of the time) instead of the methods and stories people tell us will sell…
And isn’t the best work created from that place of pure practice anyway? As Quincy Jones said, “When you chase music for money, God walks out of the room.”
Thanks as always Coach!
Perfect post for me to read today. And re-read most other days I need a nudge. Thank you Steve, and all commenters!
Big Aha! with this one. Writing is a practice. I, the Writer have a practice. Out of respect for my sacred space, the page, I will enter it each day, barefoot and respectful to the writers who came before me. I will write with humility yet with meaningful force and be thankful this is my lifelong practice. I just turned a corner. Thank you!
We are twisting our language into knots, which will only result in incoherency. A writer and a reader understand that the neuter pronoun for a person is “he.”
Steve,
This one struck a nerve in me today. Being retired military and taking part in several career paths since I retired from the service, I have a novel in me I keep saying. I start hitting my keyboard with the power of a jackhammer, I stop, toss out the page and type away at another idea. This has been going on since Feb 2002 and as of yet a couple of short articles on LinkedIn and another web magazine that just needed some content to get started, and after a while they removed my articles. But, every day after work, and at the end of my duties, I type out a few lines and some ideas.
It has become a safe haven for my thoughts and maybe a novel in the future.
I’m loving The Practice by Seth Godin. Each tome we say these truths they go deeper.
Steve,
Two things leapt off the page to me this morning.
1. I may be the only one with whom this resonates–but the fact you didn’t publish a book until you were 52 is something I hold closely.
Pete Carroll didn’t find huge success until he coached USC at age 49. There are likely 1000s of examples of people ‘hitting their stride’ later in life. I grew up in the Steve Jobs/Bill Gates era when success by 25 seemed the appropriate arc…and I internalized this narrative as ‘I’m behind…’
I felt behind because I enlisted in the Army while my buddies finished under-graduate/graduate/doctoral degrees.
Knowing that Steven Pressfield is producing on a nearly daily basis in his 70s, Pete Carroll is working towards another Super Bowl ring at 69–these facts are deeply inspiring to me.
Over the years I have had to remind myself I’m not in a race with anyone other than myself.
2. The idea that the practice is the reward. I don’t know why this truth has been hidden when it is so damn obvious once we know it. Those acts in which time stops, we reach flow, the coffee grows cold in its cup–that is what we are supposed to be doing. Our physiology is telling us that all the time, but I can be incredibly deaf to my own signals.
I’ve added an employment agency to my firm, helping Veterans & Mil spouses find work. A young woman called me Monday after an interview and she was offered a position. I did not get paid on this hire, but helping Mariah find a job filled my cup for the next 48 hours. That feeling is better than money.
I love this site and this community.
bsn
On Mariah… what a great feeling, being able to give her a hand up.
Just what I needed to hear. Thank you for this post.
Practice is taking on its truer meaning for me once again.
I’ve always liked practice and being part of the process.
The concept we are a work in progress is exactly just that;
PRACTICE and it’s on this road we become something to
strive for and be.
This is not always easy to remember. Today it was a worthy reminder of the truth it embodies. Many thanks Steven.
I have always found that life without a practice is aimless, diffusing, almost disintegrating. My practices have changed over 90 years, but there must always be a practice. It has changed from piano, to chanting, to t’ai chi, to chi gong, to kyudo, and at last to writing, but there is always a meditation practice, however miinimal it may be. There must always be a practice going. It gives strength, solidity, self-respect, purposefulness, and a certain connection with my inner self and with others. Thank you, Steve, for your example and encouragement!
I like your words, Dorothy.
This is great!
I listened to The Practice as soon as it came out. I did it while enrolled in Seth’s Akimbo Workshops.
I appreciate you saying failure burned the desire for fame and wealth out of you. I still feel the call occasionally. More than that, I still feel the fear associated with the outcome not matching the effort. The Practice, The Dip and The Icarus Deception really help encourage me to work for the work itself.
I also feel what you mentioned on Brian Koppelman’s podcast: the feeling of thinking if you do just enough you’ll achieve your goal; yet you don’t. It’s REALLY hard work, this creativity thing! My insides push me forward saying “Are you crazy?!! You gotta do this thing!” while my outsides pull me back saying “Are you crazy?!! you cannot do this thing!”
You’re correct, looking into the abyss continues to b*tch slap me into forward motion, willing or unwillingly.
Your Wednesday posts are yet another pillar of support for the journey.
Thanks Steve!
It’s always nice to have sensible ideas reinforced. ‘For the fun of it’ is one of the best!
Mary d.
BEAUTIFUL 🙂
Do you guys know if those are sent as a newsletter too?
Oh my gosh.
I ask myself from time to time, why do I do this (climb)? When it’s only suffering, being hot or cold, never fine. Then I come to the financial reward- it must be that.
But no, none financial reward 😁
It might be a practice.