Brian Johnsons

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THE BIG IDEAS

Practice vs. Learning
Deliberate + intentional.

The Practicing Mind

Bringing Discipline and Focus Into Your Life

BY THOMAS M. STERNER MOUNTAIN SAGE PUBLISHING 2006 100 PAGES

Real Power
= self-control.

The Observer
Is your true self.

Instructors Awareness
Bring that to the practice.

Meditation

The most effective practice.

Call the DOC!

Do. Observe. Correct.

Self-discipline, focus, patience, and self-awareness are interwoven threads in

the fabric of both true inner peace and contentment in life. Together, living in
the present moment and being process-oriented is the path that leads us to these
all- important virtues. This magical path is there for everyone. It offers its untold
riches to us all. The Practicing Mind is about remembering what you already
know at some level and bringing that memory into the present, where it will serve
to both place you onto the path and empower you to partake in the journey.

#1 Desire

~ Thomas M. Sterner from The Practicing Mind

To stay focused on the work.

Transforming the Mundane

Into magic.

The Practicing Mind.

Its the key to true inner peace and contentment in life. In a world that conditions us to obsess

Infinite Study

about goals and outcomes, its easy to miss the importance of the process. The PRACTICE.

Of a lifetime.

A Flowers Perfection
Is your perfection.

Thats what this book helps us cultivate. Thomas Sterner brilliantly (!) helps us bring discipline
and focus into our lives to experience the presence and joy that comes as a result. (Bonus: We
also create a frictionless path to our goals as well!)
I cant remember how I discovered this book but Im glad I did. If youre feelin it, I think youll
love it as well. (Get the book and learn more about Thomas at thepracticingmind.com.)
For now, lets jump in and explore what it means to practice and how to cultivate our minds!

A paradox of life: The

problem with patience and
discipline is that it requires
both of them to develop
each of them.
~ Thomas Sterner

PRACTICE VS. LEARNING

To me, the words practice and learning are similar but not the same. The word practice
implies the presence of awareness and will. The word learning does not. When we practice
something we are involved in the deliberate repetition of a process with the intention of
reaching a specific goal. The words deliberate and intention are key here because they define the
difference between practicing something and just learning something.
Learning is wonderful. (Of course.)
Practice is a bit different though. As Sterner advises, practice involves the deliberate repetition
of a process with the intention of reaching a specific goal.
Practice = Deliberate + Intentional. Got it.

REAL POWER
If you are not in control of your thoughts then you are not in control of yourself. Without selfcontrol, you have no real power, regardless of whatever else you accomplish.
Want real power? We need to master ourselves.
Da Vinci tells us one can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. Leading
psychologists tell us the same thing. Roy Baumeister describes self-control as the queen of all

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind

virtuesthe strength that drives all the other strengths.

Habits are learned. Choose
them wisely.
~ Thomas Sterner

Why is this? As we know, its one thing to *study* these ideas. Its an entirely different thing to
actually *live* them. And, of course, we can only do so if we have the strength of self-control.
Thats the REAL power. And, as Sterner points out, were not in control of ourselves unless we
are in control of our thoughts. Lets explore how to gain that type of control.

THE OBSERVER: YOUR TRUE SELF

We must work at being more objectively aware of ourselves. We cannot refine any part of our
daily thought processes if we are not separate from them. At first this seems to be a confusing
concept to grasp, but with the slightest shift in perception it becomes clear. If you are aware
of anything you are doing, that implies that there are two entities involved: one who is doing
something and one who is aware or observing you do it. If you are talking to yourself, you
probably think you are doing the talking. That seems reasonable enough, but who is listening to
you talk to yourself?Who is aware that you are observing the process of an internal dialogue?
Who is this second party that is aware that you are aware? The answer is your true self. The one
who is talking is your ego or personality. The one who is quietly aware is who you really are, the
Observer. The more you become aligned to the quiet Observer, your true self, the less you judge.
Your internal dialogue begins to shut down and you become more detached about the various
external stimuli that come at you all day long. You begin to actually view your internal dialogue
with an unbiased and sometimes amused perspective.
First step in cultivating our practicing mind: Gaining control of our minds.
We waste so much of our
energy by not being aware of
how we are directing it.
~ Thomas Sterner

You might have noticed theres quite a bit of chit chat going on in our minds. (Laughing.)
Well, who is that talking incessantly? Sterner (and all great teachers) tell us thats our ego/
personality. Its not our TRUE selves. Our true self? Thats whos listening.
We want to notice how easily our little self can run away in a crazy dialog and just objectively see
that. To live more consistently from the perspective of our true self.
Heres a really cool way to apply this idea practically:

THE INSTRUCTORS AWARENESS

By now, you should realize, or shall we say be aware of, several themes running throughout this
book. One of these themes is awareness itself. You cannot change what you are not aware of,
and that truth is no more important than in the world of self-improvement.We need to be more
aware of what we are doing, what we are thinking, and what we are intending to accomplish in
Non-judgment is the
pathway to a quiet mind!
~ Thomas Sterner

order to be more in control of what we are experiencing in life. But in fact, for most of us, this
is a problem because we are so disconnected from our thoughts. We just have them. The horses
are running and we dont have the reins. We need to be more of an observer of our thoughts and
actions, like an instructor watching a student performing a task. The instructor is not judgmental
or emotional. The instructor knows just what he or she wants the student to produce. The
teacher observes the students actions, and when the student does something which is moving
in the wrong direction, the instructor gently brings it to the students attention and pulls the
student back on the proper path. A good instructor does not get emotional in response to the
student moving off the path. That kind of negative emotion comes from expectations, and that is
not the perspective we want to have if we are to be our own instructor. Expectations are tied to a
result or product; once again, we are experiencing the feeling of things should be this way right
now, and until then I wont be happy. When you or someone else is experiencing these kinds of
emotions, it is an indicator of falling out of the process, or falling out of the present moment.
Awareness. Its impossible to change something we are not aware of. Period. (!!!)

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind

Being able to SEE when we are on a correct path and when we are off is *the* first step to
All the patience you will
ever need is already within
you.
~ Thomas Sterner

optimizing. We talk about this a lot throughout these Notes and I just love the way Sterner
describes the process. Many teachers describe the importance of being mindful or cultivating the
ability to observe or witness our thoughts and behaviors.
I really like the idea of imagining you are an instructor watching a student perform a certain
task. It kinda combines the witness perspective (which, altho I get, always feels a little too
abstract for me) with a coachs perspective. Youre observing/witnessing, but doing so in an
active, engaged, deliberate, intention-filled, and goal-oriented manner.
You observe the students actions. If you notice theyre headed in the wrong direction, you
encourage them to get back on the proper pathwithout getting all emotional about it. Just a
simple little instruction/coaching to adjust their behavior a bit.
As Sterner advises, the emotion comes from expectation which is tied to a RESULT.

Simplicity in effort will

conquer the most complex
of tasks.
~ Thomas Sterner

Were focused on process here. So, we simply bring the student/ourselves back to the present
moment and to practicing the behavior as well as we can *right now.*
THATs what we want to be able to cultivate. ...But how? Glad you asked!

MEDITATION: THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRACTICE

How do we become aligned to the Observer? How do we free ourselves from the confines of
our ego? Though there are certainly a number of ways to accomplish this, in my opinion, the
most effective method for creating this awareness spontaneously and effortlessly is meditation.
Through meditation, it just happens on its own over time. As you practice meditation, you
become more and more aware of this silent observer within you. Through your effort, you realize
that meditation is a process of quieting the mind and your attachment to the external world by
going deep within yourself.
Meditation. Yet again. :)
Its really quite simple. If we want to have strong bodies, we need to exercise our bodies. If we
want to have strong minds, we need to exercise our minds.
And the best way to do that? MEDITATION.
(You have a practice yet? :)
Heres another way to rock it:

SOMEBODY CALL THE DOC!

With or without meditation, it is necessary to consciously work at shifting your alignment to
the Observer. An effective adjunct method to meditation that I use for this purpose is what I call
DOC, which stands for Do, Observe, Correct. This technique can be applied to any activity in
which you are trying to engage the practicing mind...
What we want to do is make DOC a more natural way of how we approach life. If, for example,
you feel you are someone who tends to worry too much, then try to apply DOC to your actions.
When you notice yourself fretting over something, you have accomplished the DO portion.
OBSERVE this behavior that you want to change. In your observation of yourself worrying,
you have separated yourself from the act of worry. Now realize that the emotions you are
experiencing have no affect on the problem you are focusing on. Release yourself from the
emotions as best as you can - that is the CORRECT portion - and try to look at the problem as an
observer.
Somebody call the DOC!

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind

If you force your mind to

stay in the present moment
and to stay in the process
of what you are doing, I
promise you, so many of
your problems will melt
away.
~ Thomas Sterner

Do + Observe + Correct = Genius way to cultivate our practicing mind muscles.

Do something.
Observe it like a good instructorobjectively/without judgment/emotion/etc. Check in: Is that
particular behavior working well or do you need to bring the student back on track?
Correct! Again, without emotionother than perhaps some enthusiasm for getting back on the
practice track and knowing youre cultivating the mojo of a practicing mind! :)

#1 DESIRE: TO STAY FOCUSED ON THE WORK

When you let go of your attachment to the object you desire and make your desire the
experience of staying focused on working toward your goal, you are fulfilling your desire in every
minute and you are patient with the circumstance. There is no reason not to be. There is no
effort or trying to be patient here. It is just a natural response to your perspective. This shift in
perspective is very small and subtle on the one hand, but it has enormous freeing power. No task
seems too large to undertake. Your confidence goes way up as does your patience with yourself.
You are always achieving your goal and there are no mistakes or time limits to create stress.
Wow.
This is really the essence of the whole book: > let go of your attachment to the object you
desire and make your desire the experience of staying focused on working toward your goal.
(< Thats worth another re-read. :)
Sterner also tells us: That subtle shift in perception, and that is all it was, brought about
unlimited patience with myself. I became patient with my progress. I not only stopped looking
at my progress, I stopped looking for my progress all together. Progress is a natural result of
staying focused on the process of doing anything. When you stay on purpose, focused in the
present moment, the goal comes to you with frictionless ease. However, when you constantly
focus on the goal you are aiming for, you push it away instead of pulling it toward you. In every
moment of your struggle, by looking at the goal and constantly referencing your position to it,

The feeling of Ill be

happy when will never
bring you anything but
discontentment.
~ Thomas Sterner

you are affirming to yourself that you havent reached it. You only need to acknowledge the goal
to yourself occasionally, using it as a rudder to keep you moving in the right direction.
Thats it.
We can make the outcome we desire be the focus of our attention. (And experience the
attachment/stress/anxiety/lack of presence and diminished performance as a result.)
Or, we can make the experience of staying focused on working toward our goal our primary
desire. (And experience presence, engagement, and increased performance as a resultwhich,
of course, makes it much more likely we will experience the outcome we desire with frictionless
ease. :)
Subtle but HUGE shift.
Lets use our goals as rudders, occasionally checking in to make sure were on course and focus
our energy on being present in our practicing minds as we take the next baby step!

TRANSFORMING THE MUNDANE INTO MAGIC

Try this the next time you are faced with doing something you define as not enjoyable or as
work. It doesnt matter if it is mowing the lawn or cleaning up the dinner dishes. If the activity
takes a long time, tell yourself you are going to just work on staying present moment and
process-oriented for the first half hour. After that you can hate it as much as usual, but in that
first half hour you are absolutely not going to think of anything but what you are doing. You

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind

are not going to go into the past and think of all the judgments you have made that define this
activity as work.You are not going to go into the future anticipating when it will be completed,
allowing you to go participate in an activity that you have defined as not work. You are just
going to do whatever it is you are doing right now for half an hour. Dont try to enjoy it, either,
because in that effort you are bringing emotions and struggle into your effort. If you are going
With deliberate and repeated
effort, progress is inevitable.
~ Thomas Sterner

to mow the lawn, then accept that all you need to do is cut the grass. You are going to notice the
feel of the mower as you push it, how it changes resistance with the undulations of your front
yard. You will pay attention to cut as wide a path as possible, not sloppily overlap the last pass
you made as you gawk at the neighbor across the street washing their car. You will smell the cut
grass and notice how the grass glows with green in the sunlight. Just do this for one-half hour of
the activity. You will be amazed. Once you experience how the activity as mundane as mowing
the grass is transformed, you will have the motivation to press on, because the potential effect
this could have on your life and how you perceive it will become apparent to you.
What a fantastic exercise.
I immediately think of Walter Russell when I read this. In The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of
the Universe, Walter tells us: There should be no distasteful tasks in ones life. If you just hate
to do a thing, that hatred for it develops body-destructive toxins, and you become fatigued very
soon. You must love anything you must do. Do it not only cheerfully, but also lovingly and the
very best way you know how. That love of the work which you must do anyhow will vitalize
your body and keep you from fatigue.
Plus he tells us: A menial task which must be mine, that shall I glorify and make an art of it.
(<Wow.)
George Leonard (see Notes on Mastery) echoes this wisdom: Could all of us reclaim lost hours
of our lives by making everythingthe commonplace along with the extraordinarya part of
our practice?
What distasteful tasks do you have in your life? How can you turn off your judging mind and just
jump in and do it with full presence to the best of your ability? Dont even try to enjoy it. Just
rock it. (And, paradoxically, watch how much you enjoy it. :)

INFINITE STUDY
I became aware that there was no point of musical excellence out there that would free me from
the feeling of I need to get better. In that moment, I understood that there was no point I could
reach where I would feel that I had finally done it, that I was as good as I needed to be, and that
there was no need to improve because I had arrived at my goal. It was an epiphany. At first I
felt a moment of overwhelming depression and fear, but it was immediately followed by joy and
relief of the same magnitude. I knew that what I was experiencing was a realization that all true
artists must go through. It was the only way to build the stamina necessary to continue in an
infinite study.
Infinite study. < What an extraordinary phrase/epiphany.
Reminds me of George Leonards wisdom: For a master, the rewards gained along the way
are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimately, the master and the
masters path are one. And if the traveler is fortunatethat is, if the path is complex and
profound enoughthe destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels.
Imagine: For every mile we travel, our destination is two miles farther away. And were thrilled
about that. Why? Because were so committed to the practice and feel blessed to have discovered
a path that is so wonderfully complex and profound that it can challenge us for a lifetime.
That sounds an awful like infinite study, eh?

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind

Heres to the joy of committing ourselves to a lifetime of such goodness.

A FLOWERS PERFECTION
As we attempt to understand ourselves and our struggles with lifes endeavors, we may find
When we make staying
focused on the process our
real goal, we experience a
sense of success in every
moment.
~ Thomas Sterner

peace in the observation of a flower. Ask yourself: at what point in a flowers life, from seed to
full bloom, has it reached perfection?
Wow.
What an amazing way to capture the beauty of our unfolding and the perfection of each step of
the way.
Reminds me of Vernon Howards wisdom from The Power of Your Supermind (see Notes) where
he tells us: Do not be impatient with your seemingly slow progress. Do not try to run faster
than you presently can. If you are studying, reflecting and trying, you are making progress
whether you are aware of it or not. A traveler walking the road in the darkness of night is still
going forward. Someday, some way, everything will break open, like the natural unfolding of
a rosebud.
Sterner adds: Accepting that this is a lifetime effort, and that in the beginning your progress
may seem almost unnoticeable, is part of the lesson to be learned. Keep thinking of the flower.
Regardless of whatever stage of growth and evolution you are in, in every moment you are
perfect at being who you are.
Lets keep thinking of that flower and embrace the perfection of being right where we are as we
cultivate our practicing mind and gracefully actualize our potential.

Brian Johnson,
Chief Philosopher

If you liked this Note,

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Mastery
Willpower

About the Author of The Practicing Mind

THOMAS M. STERNER

Thomas M. Sterner spent over 25 years as a concert piano technician and

rebuilder. Preparing instruments for the finest world class concert pianists and

The Man Who Tapped the

Secrets of the Universe

symphony musicians enabled him to witness first-hand the level of art afforded

Talent Is Overrated

lives in Delaware, happily engaged in composing music, writing inspirational,

Mindset

to those with a disciplined mind. An accomplished musician himself, Mr. Sterner

self-help books and publishing audio books through his company, Mountain Sage
Publishing. Learn more about Thomas at thepracticingmind.com.

About the Author of This Note

BRIAN JOHNSON

Brian Johnson loves helping people optimize their lives as he studies, embodies
and teaches the fundamentals of optimal livingintegrating ancient wisdom
+ modern science + common sense + virtue + mastery + fun. Learn more and
optimize your life at brianjohnson.me.

PhilosophersNotes | The Practicing Mind