The Three Stages of Skill Acquisition
According to Josh Kaufman’s The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything … Fast, skill acquisition happens in three stages: Cognitive (early) stage—researching, understanding, and thinking about the skill; breaking it into manageable parts. Associative (intermediate) stage—practicing, noticing feedback, and adjusting practice based on feedback. Autonomous (late) stage—effectively and efficiently performing the skill with little […]
The Wisdom of the Past
Jawaharlal Nehru writes in The Discovery of India, Our lives are encumbered with the dead wood of this past; all that is dead and has served its purpose has to go. But that does not mean a break with, or a forgetting of, the vital and life-giving in that past. We can never forget the […]
Working as Master of Your Own Mind
Swami Vivekananda advises in Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action, If working like slaves results in selfishness and attachment, working as master of our own mind gives rise to the bliss of non-attachment. We often talk of right and justice, but we find that in the world right and justice are mere baby’s talk. There […]
Temporary Disengagement
Tara Brach writes in Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha, Learning to pause is the first step of Radical Acceptance. A pause is a suspension of activity, a time of temporary disengagement when we are no longer moving toward any goal… The pause can occur in the midst of almost […]
Whistleblower Herbert Yardley in Comparison to Edward Snowden
The 19-December-2015 edition of The Economist magazine’s article “The Black Chamber—American cryptology” compares whistleblowers Herbert Yardley and Edward Snowden: When in 1931 Herbert Yardley spilled the secrets of America’s eavesdropping programme, he may well have endangered national security. But, unlike Edward Snowden, he was no mid-level whistleblower shocked at the excesses of a lawless surveillance […]
Difference Between Buddhism and Christianity
Richard Holloway writes in Doubts and Loves: What is Left of Christianity, The difference between Buddhism and Christianity is that Buddhism is essentially a practice, an arduous discipline that can deliver peace and compassion to its adherents. Christianity also has its spiritual disciplines, but it has never able to divest itself of the belief that […]
Self-interest is a Powerful Motivator
The “invisible hand” of market prices directs buyers and sellers toward activities that promote the general welfare. Scottish economist, philosopher, and founder of modern economics Adam Smith wrote in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations: Every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for […]
Reclaiming our Freedom
Thich Nhat Hahn has the outstanding ability to make the teachings of Buddha and the practice of mindfulness fully accessible to all people regardless of religious background or spiritual training. He writes in The Path of Emancipation: Talks from a 21-Day Mindfulness Retreat: To me, freedom is being mindful of what we are doing and […]
Broaden Your Passion Instead of Following It
Oakland University Professor of Engineering Barbara Oakley addresses why following your passion is the worst kind of career advice: We’re often told “follow your passions” … “find out what you’re good at and then just get better at it”. To my mind, that’s such a mistaken approach because what happens is, people have things they’re […]
Empathic Understanding
Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism Without Beliefs: I find myself moved by the plight of those I do not know and probably never will: the hungry child, the abandoned dog, the streams of refugees. Or my world is suddenly transfigured by the smile of an old woman on a park bench. And when I finally run into […]