Category Archives: Skills

What Do You Practice?

Who are the best athletes in the world?

I mean not their names, or what they do, but what kind of ways could we characterize them?

One could be they are genetically gifted.

Another could be they had a certain upbringing which put an emphasis on sports.

Yet another could be they were very lucky.

But one characteristic is absolutely certain across all athletes and all sports.

Practice.

Nobody gets to the top without daily practice. Hours of practice.

The same goes for the top musicians, programmers, and all other skills.

Even doctors call their business a “practice.”

Because every patient they see is different, which means they have treat each one uniquely. And since this gives them a new learning experience each and every time, it’s their “practice.”

And when they retire, they even use the verb. “I’m a doctor but I no longer practice.”

However, when it comes to the world of self development, we somehow don’t think we need to “practice.”

Like all we need to do is read a book, understand some new ideas, and POOF! We start living the good life.

Even something as simple as losing weight, or getting a six pack. We’ve been conned into thinking we really CAN get “five second abs” or “lose ten pounds a week while we sleep.”

I once saw this very interesting documentary on state lotteries.

The marketing director said that when they create their ads, they don’t promote a one dollar lottery ticket as a chance to win a million dollars.

They promote it (covertly) as a couple days to DREAM about a good life. For only a dollar.

Unfortunately, a lot of people treat self development the same way.

Whether it be prosperity, relationships, pick up, business, sales, what have you, it seems a lot of people only buy those books because while they are reading them, they are dreaming of that magical time in the future when everything is better.

And they keep that feeling for a couple weeks. And when it wears off, they buy another book, or go to another seminar, or order another DVD set.

But if you don’t start to practice, your life will never change.

The GOOD NEWS is that practicing is easy. It’s simple. So long as you start slow, and do the same little bit every day, you’ll get better and better.

Sure, there won’t be a magic switch that makes all your problems vanish while you sleep, but you’ll slowly be building a fantastic life for yourself.

And the more you practice, the easier it will be to practice. Mental exercises, journaling exercise, and when you’re ready, out in the real world talking to other people exercises.

That’s why ALL of these have TONS of exercises.

Things you can start doing TODAY, on a daily basis, to build whatever life you want.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion Ebooks

How To Practice Thinking

No matter what you’d like to accomplish, you’ll need skills.

If you want to cook a turkey, you’ll need to understand how to operate an oven.

If you want to get a degree, there’s a lot of ideas and information you’ll need to become comfortable with.

Some skills are very specific, some are general.

Some are things that people don’t realize are skills, since we do them naturally.

Communication is an example.

Since most people know how to “talk” and how to have a conversation, it’s really not seen as a skill, more like an inherent ability.

We tend to think some people are “good” at it, while others aren’t so good.

If you met some guy or gal that was really “good” at talking to people and making them feel good about themselves, you’d just think they were “naturals.”

On the other hand, if you saw some guy on the corner playing the violin really proficiently, you’d assume that he simply spent a lot of time practicing.

Of course, ANYTHING that you do can be improved. Talking, walking, persuading, tell jokes.

But for some reason, we don’t associate “practice” with certain things.

One of these is “thinking.”

We just do it automatically. We don’t even “think” about “thinking” as something we can change. We assume it’s something that just “happens.”

But your thoughts are (or can be) under your control. It just takes practice.

After all, you “become” what you “think about” most of the time.

If you are always thinking about scary stuff, and the worst possible thing that can happen, you won’t likely be super outgoing and adventurous.

On the other hand, if are always wondering what cool things you’re about to discover, you may be more likely to try new things, which will get you a lot different results than the first person.

However, when most people try it “change” the way they think, they do it once, maybe twice.

And when it doesn’t “work” they just figure they can’t “do” that.

But what if you tried to juggle ONCE, and determined you just weren’t a juggler?

What if you sat down at the piano ONCE, and tried a song, and then determined you just can’t play the piano?

What if you decided to go jogging for the first time in your life, and could only make it half a kilometer before you got tired out, and concluded that you just weren’t a “jogger”?

Pretty silly, right?

But that’s what people do when they try and “change” their “thinking.”

They try it once, it doesn’t “work” and they figure it’s all nonsense.

But if you PRACTICE thinking “right thoughts” like you’d practice juggling, or playing the piano, or learning a new instrument, you’d slowly get better.

And in six months or so, your thoughts AND your life, would be completely different.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Stop Being A Ping Pong Ball

I saw this interesting “magic” trick online the other day.

It showed four cards, and you had to choose one.

And then think about it and click the button.

The trick was the card you were focused on would be gone on the next screen.

And it was!

But the trick was that ALL FOUR cards were different.

Because they were all face cards, and a mix of suits, the only way you would not be fooled would be if you memorized ALL the cards.

But since the instructions said to pick ONE, most people don’t even notice the other cards.

So when four new face cards are shown, all mixed, and all different, it looks magical, because the others “look” the same.

Scientists tell us our brains run off largely cache-like memory. Meaning in order to save brain processing time and energy, we only “guess” what’s “out there” and come up with a memory based on what we “think” is there.

Clearly, this can be a HUGE disadvantage.

Especially when talking about the many deep nuances of communication.

You think you are being clear, but the other person completely misunderstands you. Later on, you “assume” they “knew” what you meant, but they “assume” you meant something else.

BOOM!

On the other hand, magic tricks, movies, optical illusions, even silly jokes wouldn’t work if our brains were super accurate like a Vulcan.

But it’s also so easy why we tend to believe stuff that CAN’T be true.

So many “ideas” out there are contradictory, most of them HAVE to be wrong!

The good news is that because “meaning” itself is so slippery, you can CHOOSE what you want things to mean.

This is a lot easier if you have a solid PLAN for your life.

You already have tons of preprogrammed desires. Sex, money, safety, shelter, companionship, a certain amount of social status and recognition.

But unless you take the time to SPEFICIFY what these mean to you, and HOW you are going to achieve them, it’s easier to get knocked around like a ping-pong ball in a typhoon.

Just doing this (choosing specific goals and how you’re going to achieve them) is a feat unto itself. It’s not easy, and it requires a lot of introspection.

Which is why most people don’t really take the time to do this.

Sure, everybody has WISHES. These are usually dependent on the wish-fairy showing up and giving you a magic bag of stuff.

You’ll be surprised that once you get going on the process of creating and manifesting your goals.

Because the process itself is what LIFE is all about.

Not to be a ping pong ball, but to be a person of PURPOSE.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Are You Waiting For One Weird Trick?

I used to know this kid in Junior High School. His dream was to become a professional dancer.

He spent a lot of his time working on his moves. Later he invited me to one of his shows. He was in a dance troupe, and they were pretty impressive.

This wasn’t a normal kid. Most JHS kids don’t know what they want.

Not only did this guy have a clear idea, but he spent a lot of time practicing.

If you saw some guy walking down the street with massive arms, what would you think?

He’s got some kind of lucky genetics, and he was born with huge arms?

How about seeing some guy at a party, who can juggle sixteen things at once?

Would you assume that he’s some kind of latent gift that the rest of us don’t?

Probably not.

You’d probably assume, at least on some level, that he’s spent a lot of time practicing.

And most of the time we see somebody with a finely honed set of skills, we just assume they had a lot of practice.

But some of the most important skills, we don’t see them as practice.

We, for some reason, see them as things some people can do, while others can’t.

Like talking to strangers with confidence, or being able to give a persuasive speech.

In reality, anything that somebody else can do, you can do.

Sure, some things are easier for some people, but so what?

Yes, some people are “lucky” in that the things they are naturally good at can make them a lot of money.

You can still do the same things they can, it just will take some practice.

Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

Ideally, you’d find something you enjoy doing, so you’ll enjoy learning it. That way you won’t mind practicing for a few years before you get good enough to make a lot of money doing it.

But most people don’t like to hear this.

They’d rather take a magic pill or learn some ancient secret discovered in a cave in the Himalayas.

But consider this.

According to the laws of economics, something is worth a lot of money precisely BECAUSE so few people can do it.

Which means if you’re waiting for “one weird trick” to make it easy, it’s going to be the same “one weird trick” that everybody else knows.

And if everybody else can do it, it’s not going to be worth much, or be unique in any way.

The good news is that because most people are too lazy to learn, all you’ve got to do is spend some time learning.

So long as you are committed, you’ll get there.

And when you do, you’ll have a set of skills few people know about, let alone know how to practice.

Get Started:

Mind Persuasion Ebooks

Turn On Your Natural Learner

I do a lot of walking early in the morning.

Especially when it’s still dark.

It’s a great time to think, and let my mind wander.

Especially when it’s clear and all the stars are out.

You see a lot of strange folks in the morning.

Some out walking their dogs. Some on bikes delivering newspapers. Some people staggering home from the bars.

(Where I live some of the bars stay open past 2 AM).

The bar people are usually pretty obvious. From a ways away. They know the night’s over, but they’re trying to keep the party going.

Walking slowly to the area of town where all the taxis are. Keeping up their “energy.” Not wanting to break up the group, usually a mix of guys and girls who, for some reason, haven’t managed to close one another. Or didn’t want to.

The dog people are also interesting. Some clearly look like they’d rather be sleeping.

Others look like they enjoy it. The dog is not a burden, it’s an excuse to get out of the house.

It’s not a chore, it’s a companion. It doesn’t limit them, by tying them down to a dependent animal, it frees them.

Many things can easily be thought of “good” or “bad” depending on what you do with them.

Or how you think about them.

Take our brains, for example.

They are pretty good at coming up with reasons why we SHOULDN’T do things.

In fact, talking ourselves out of good ideas is something that everybody is an expert at.

That voice in your head just keeps yammering, and won’t shut up.

However, that voice can be your best friend, or your biggest enemy.

Since it’s YOUR voice, you get to choose.

Now, if it’s been talking smack your whole life, it’s going to take a while to change it.

But just imagine if that voice was ALWAYS giving you POSITIVE advice. Always encouraging you. Always telling you that you could do anything you wanted.

How would your life look?

The thing about our brains is we think they are not programmable. That they are the way they are.

This is why many people, including scientists, believe things like “intelligence” is fixed. That you can’t change it.

Or something like “learning.” That once you get past childhood, it’s difficult to learn.

But this is missing out on a LOT of variables.

Like if you were an adult, and your ONLY job was to learn, and EVERYTHING ELSE was taken care of (just like it was when you were a kid) do you think you’d be able to learn?

Of course you could!

In fact, for most people, that would be a dream come true!

The truth is that YOU have a lot more skills that you think.

You just need to “learn” how to “use” your brain more effectively.

Get Started:

Intelligence Accelerator

The Uber Skill

I’ve done a lot of moving in my life.

Various places in college, various jobs, cities, countries, etc.

And there’s always one question that needs to be addressed every single time I move.

What to keep, and what to throw out.

Now, some moves are close enough so I just hire a couple guys to come by in a truck.

They take everything out of the old place, throw it in the back of the truck, and then unload it in the new place.

Not a lot of thinking required.

Other times, when I’ve got to do the moving myself, I have to think long and hard about some of my stuff.

Do I really need it, or is it junk?

One time I found myself living in an apartment that didn’t have a big dumpster outside.

So I had to carry my junk at night, down the street, and pitch it in the dumpster behind the supermarket.

If you do this enough, you find that you can really streamline your life.

There’re even experts that will help you do this, even if you’re not moving.

Ideas in your head can act the same way.

Some of it’s junk, and some of it’s gold.

Of course, you can’t tell if you don’t take a good look. Which most people are afraid to do.

Skills, however are always pure gold.

Sure, you may waste TIME learning a skill, but once you’ve got the skill, you never know when it will come in handy.

There’s a theory that since all of us are tied into to the super-conscious, (via the subconscious) no matter WHAT skill we are learning, there’s always a reason.

You might not understand why now, but in five years, you’ll be in a situation and you’ll suddenly remember you’ve got THAT skill (that you didn’t really know WHY you learned in the first place) and you’ll be golden.

So there’s really never a good argument to NOT learn new skills. Sure, some particular skills like juggling chainsaws might not be a good idea.

But other skills will DEFINITELY help you.

One of these is how well you communicate. Your ability to not only get those ideas out of your head clearly and succinctly, but to persuade others of their value, is absolutely crucial.

Well, not really CRUCIAL. But without them you’ll always be dependent on others.

But when you take the time to develop communication skills, you will have a lot more options, a lot more resources, and will be much less likely to ever get “stuck.”

Most people spend their time wondering “if.” Or they spend their time “hoping.”

I hope she likes me. I hope they hire me. I hope I don’t get fired.

But when you learn POWERFUL communication skills, you will not need to rely on OTHERS.

Instead of “hoping” for situations to go your way, you can carefully ENGINEER them to go your way.

How?

Here’s How:

Covert Hypnosis

Juggle Your Way To Greatness

Practice Your Skills

There are many different skills one can learn in life.

Some are portable, and can be taken wherever you go.

Some require tools, some require hands, some required specific knowledge.

If you know how to bake a cake, you can do so in any kitchen provided you have the right ingredients.

If you know how to juggle, you can do so with any objects of a certain size. Bean bags, eggs, shoes, wadded up pieces of paper.

Some skills are worth a lot of money, while other skills are a lot fun.

Some skills are considered “meta” skills. These are higher order skills that make other skills possible.

For example, if you had decent skills of learning (which EVERYBODY does) then you could learn any skill you wanted to, so long as you had enough time, motivation, and any required equipment.

One way to motivate yourself is if that skill in question would get you paid, or any kind of positive social recognition.

It’s been said that if you spend only one hour a day on any particular skill, and practice with intention, within a year you will be in the top 1% in the world.

Consider something like photoshop. A highly complicated piece of software. There are people who have been using photoshop for YEARS. But have they been learning for years, or did they get to a certain level, and stay there?

Continuous learning requires ALWAYS pushing your limits. For example, if you wanted to be a world class juggler, you would ALWAYS need to be pushing yourself.

You wouldn’t stop at three eggs. Or small objects. You would always PUSH YOURSELF beyond what you could do.

Next time you see some world class juggler on YouTube, ask yourself this question:

“How many balls did that guy drop in his lifetime to get to that level of skill?”

When you practice is also crucial. Just the other day I was at a stoplight. This guy, who was practicing his juggling skills, ran out into the middle of the intersection, put on a quick juggling show, and when the light changed, ran back to the sidewalk.

Was he perfect? Nope, he dropped plenty. But everybody honked and clapped when he was done.

Everybody had a smile on their face, including me.

I’d bet that in a year or so, that guy’s going to be a FANTASTIC juggler.

He’s not afraid to fail in front of others, while EVERYBODY is having a good time.

Another meta skill (That YOU have) is communication.

The better you can communicate with others, the more you can get. Whatever it is you want.

Will it always be perfect? Nope. Will you say foolish things that make people look at you funny? Yep.

Communication, like any other skill, will improve the more you practice.

And if you practice not just for a year, but for the rest of your life?

Amazing things will happen.

Learn More:

Interpersonal Resonance

Hidden Wealth On The Moon

The Byproducts of Wealth

Many people are put off by an objective of “making money.”

Perhaps you’ve mentioned to your friends or family about wanting to earn more, and they gave you some flack.

After all, money can’t buy happiness, money can’t buy love, money can’t buy health.

These are all absolutely true. But it misses the point.

Money is a RESULT.

How do you get money? You’ve got to interact with the world. You’ve got to listen to the unending needs of others, and figure out a way to help them fulfill them.

You can do this alone, or with others. You can make something, or help make something.

The bottom line is you simply cannot get money without helping people FIRST.

When President Kennedy made the decision to go to the moon, it was a matter of national pride.

There weren’t any resources on the moon. No oil, no water, no gold, no coal. Not even any aliens (allegedly, lol).

Just a big rock. Swirling around the Earth.

So why did we go? (We humans, not we Americans…)

Because it was there. Because it was a worthy goal. (And to get there before the Russians!)

AND because along the way, there were MASSIVE amounts of inventions nobody could expect.

All kinds of new technology. (Even if you believe it was faked, there was still plenty of stuff invented along the way).

Making money is the same way. Sure, when you make your millions, you won’t be any healthier. You won’t necessarily be happy. You might not have any better relationships.

Or will you?

If you DO get better at all those things, it won’t be BECAUSE of the money sitting happily in your bank account.

It will be because of the skills you learned along the way. The interpersonal skills. The communication skills. The skills of delayed gratification. The skills of taking risks, learning from the results, and charging on ahead with better skills the next time around.

When we focus on rich people, we tend to focus on those in the news. Celebrities, inventors, artists, athletes.

Not the “millionaire next door” type. The type who has a SOLID relationship with his or her family.

The type who has a deep appreciation for life, and all the wondrous things still yet to discover.

The type who know that ANYTHING is possible, so long as you never give up.

Making money is not about making money. It’s about all the things you’ll do along the way.

The personal growth, the inner demons you’ll obliterate, one by one. The fantastic people you’ll meet and the lifelong relationships you’ll build.

If you’re ready, check this out:

Income Stream Generator

Are You Afraid Of Broccoli Cake?

Everything Requires Practice

If you want to get better at anything, you need to practice.

This seems obvious, but many times we misunderstand this.

For example, if you were to see some guy walking down the street that was absolutely ripped, with very little body fat, you’d make some assumptions.

One is that he spends a LOT of his time in the gym. Two is that he’s very careful about what he eats.

Sometimes though, when we see somebody that’s good at something, we assume they’ve always been good, or at least gifted.

When we see popular musicians, for example, we don’t automatically imagine all the time they spent learning their instruments, writing and rewriting their songs, and rehearsing them over and over.

Some of us assume they just picked up a guitar one day, and started jamming without effort.

One thing we almost never consider is something like interpersonal skills.

Meaning if we see somebody that’s really friendly and outgoing, a natural conversationalist, we assume they’ve always been like that.

Or if they weren’t they learned some hidden “secret” that suddenly flipped a switch in their brain, turning them from a shy introvert to a charismatic and persuasive extrovert.

Sure, there are people who were lucky enough to have a super supportive family life growing up, wonderful teachers, fantastic friends, and their whole lives the stars aligned in their favor to make them a super natural when they grew up.

But most of the time, they’ve got those skills simply because they decided, at one point, that they wanted them. Then they got busy getting them.

Which is both good news AND bad news at the same time.

It’s good news because you really CAN do anything you want, if only you want it enough.

It’s bad news because there really is only one way to get it. Practice. Effort. Time.

Three things most people treat like superman treats kryptonite.

But if you can identify what you want, and describe it clearly enough, you WILL get it.

If you want to bake a cake, it will take a little practice, effort and time.

But once you get started, the outcome is absolutely certain.

Every. Single. Time.

Nobody ever expects to put chocolate cake batter in the oven only to find a pile of broccoli thirty minutes later.

What do you want?

What skills would you like have? One year from now? Five years from now? Ten years from now?

If you are willing to do the work, you WILL get the results.

These Tools Will Help:

Mind Persuasion