Self-Improvement Archives

How to Master a Skill: Deepen Your Fundamentals

What is the key to mastering a skill? Should you focus on one technique or diversify your practice? According to Joshua Waitzkin, the author of The Art of Learning, real skill comes from a deep, singular focus. In terms of skill-building, he argues that you reach excellence by refining a set of fundamental skills, rather than practicing a wide range of techniques. For example, focus on learning a single style of piano, like baroque classical, rather than trying to learn classical, jazz, and ragtime piano all at once. Here’s how to master a skill, according to Waitzkin.

How to Keep Training With an Injury

How do you continue training with an injury? How can you use your injury as an opportunity to grow? Skipping training to let your body heal from an injury is frustrating. While many choose to see injuries as setbacks, you can choose to see them as opportunities to grow. American tai chi champion Josh Waitzkin says you should keep training through injury but only practice psychological aspects of your skill. Here’s why you shouldn’t stop training when injured.

How to Improve Your Writing—Author Explains

Do you want to improve your writing skills? What does taste have to do with writing? In his book On Writing Well, American writer, journalist, and teacher William Zinsser explains how to improve your writing. The key, he says, is to develop a taste for good writing. Zinsser believes that you should choose authors whose style you admire, then try to emulate their style until you develop your own voice. Here’s why developing good taste is the first step to improving your writing.

Chunking: A Learning Technique for Better Retention

What is the chunking study method? What makes chunking such an effective way to learn? In the context of learning, chunking is where you learn the basic elements of a skill, then combine them into compound skills. Learning via chunking enables you to perform more complex skills with intuitive ease, executing multiple elements in tandem. Learn about the chunking learning method, why it works, and how to implement it.

The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success: Quotes to Ponder

What ideas are found in the book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success? What are some of its most thought-provoking quotes? Many people measure success in terms of how much they achieve or accumulate. According to best-selling author and world-renowned well-being practitioner Deepak Chopra, this definition of success limits you and keeps you trapped in a cycle of achievement and accumulation that creates more anxiety than success. Keep reading for The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success quotes.

Josh Waitzkin: The Key to Athletic Success Is Creativity

What is the key to athletic success? What do the world’s greatest athletes do differently? According to American tai chi champion Josh Waitzkin, when it comes to competing in the top league, it’s not skill or technical mastery that makes an athlete stand out—it is creativity. Your creativity is a unique asset—just like every musician makes their own music, you’ll express your skill in a way unique to you. Here’s how to find your creative style as an athlete.

Josh Waitzkin: How to Learn Better and Faster

Does learning come easy to you? Would you like to learn better, faster, and more effectively? According to Josh Waitzkin, effective learning comes from your deep commitment to your growth process. In his book The Art of Learning, he explains how to learn more effectively, drawing from his long experience as a world-class chess competitor. Here’s how to learn better and faster, according to Josh Waitzkin.

Learning Proper Form: Practice Makes Perfect

Why is proper form so important? How do you train yourself to maintain the correct form without constantly thinking about it? When you are learning a new move, it’s important to practice it with proper form from the get-go. If you practice with improper form, you don’t just risk injury, but also make it harder to retrain yourself as your body gets used to an incorrect form. Here’s how to learn the proper form for any move or exercise.

The 7 Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra

What’s the book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra about? What are the main takeaways? In The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Chopra redefines success, arguing that your entire reality springs from an invisible, spiritual world of consciousness pulsing with energy that connects everything in the universe. He explains that true success comes from aligning with the flow of this spiritual energy. Read more for a concise overview of this book.

The Art of Learning: Quotes by Josh Waitzkin

Are you looking for The Art of Learning quotes by Josh Waitzkin? What are some of the most noteworthy passages worth revisiting? The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin explores his approach to all learning in a memoir-esque format. He explores the fundamentals of his learning method and mindset, building incrementally through intermediate to advanced strategies. Here’s a selection of The Art of Learning quotes by Josh Waitzkin.