Action

If it feels all right for you, it's probably OK.

Follow your natural curiosity and sidestep distraction. Take action on what interests you, and your natural concentration will follow.

What most people seek in life, especially when young, is not happiness but an intensity that reaches into the core. We want to be involved in some important pursuit that involves hardship and is worthy of that hardship.

The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It's not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it's deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.

I've come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks.

It is impossible to enjoy a tennis game, a book, or a conversation unless attention is fully concentrated on the activity.

Few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it. He who desires but acts not," wrote Blake with his accustomed vigor, Breeds pestilence.

Competition is enjoyable only when it is a means to perfect one’s skills; when it becomes an end in itself, it ceases to be fun.

Any specialization or expertise that one finds enjoyable and where one can improve one’s knowledge over time. The important thing, however, is the attitude toward these disciplines. If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one’s attention.

It is when we act freely, for the sake of the action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were.

Whatever you are pushing against, you are stuck to.

Your power is a function of velocity, that is to say, your power is a function of the rate at which you translate intention into reality. Most of us disempower ourselves by finding a way to slow, impede, or make more complex than necessary the process of translating intention into reality.

What gives people superiority at a task is true intention. That makes you attuned to everything.

Consider that all accomplishment is constituted by a series of resolved breakdowns.

Opportunity: it's not really scarce. It's everywhere. If you really were any good, you'd be overwhelmed by it.

Just like the front and the back of the hand, being and action are distinct yet inseparable.

You must act as if the goal were infinitely far off.

The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede.

What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen.

Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out!" he exclaimed. "The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise.

We should not practice anything except self-detaching immersion.

By letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind so decisively that nothing more is left of you but a purposeless tension.

This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the pupil makes himself independent of all conscious purpose.

The treasure you seek is in the work you're avoiding.

Reasons that are tied to your purpose, identity, and values will sufficiently motivate you to act, even in the face of all of the daily obstacles that life puts in your way.

Motivation is a set of emotions (painful and pleasurable) that act as the fuel for our actions.

Motivation comes from purpose, fully feeling and associating with the consequences of our actions (or inactions).

Notice the difference it makes when you turn knowledge into power.

Genius is not born; it’s made through deep practice.

If you’re struggling to find motivation to learn, or to accomplish anything else in your life, there is a good chance you haven’t uncovered the why of the task.

If we can really understand the problem, the answer will come out of it, because the answer is not separate from the problem.

There is the silence of the mind which is never touched by any noise, by any thought or by the passing wind of experience. It is this silence that is innocent, and so endless.

When there is this silence of the mind action springs from it, and this action does not cause confusion or misery.

You cannot reconcile creativeness with technical achievement. You may be perfect in playing the piano, and not be creative. You may be able to handle color, to put paint on canvas most cleverly, and not be a creative painter...having lost the song, we pursue the singer. We learn from the singer the technique of song, but there is no song; and I say the song is essential, the joy of singing is essential.

When the joy is there, the technique can be built up from nothing; you will invent your own technique, you won't have to study elocution or style. When you have, you see, and the very seeing of beauty is an art.

If you need inspiration, don't do it.

No, I don't ever give up. I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated.

One of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask. Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy

If something is important enough, you should try even if the probable outcome is failure.

Action is the foundational key to all success.

What one does is what counts. Not what one had the intention of doing.

You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea. I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else.

Go and do the things you can't. That is how you get to do them.

An individual chooses and makes himself.

There is no reality except in action. Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life.

I can always choose, but I ought to know that if I do not choose, I am still choosing.

Man is fully responsible for his nature, choices and lifestyle. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after this thrust toward existence. Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.

Think long term. Use the future.

If you want to be useful, you can always start now. It will be a humble prototype of your grand vision, but you’ll be in the game. Start by teaching someone this week. Starting small puts 100% of your energy into solving real problems for real people.

Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you're being the real you and when you're trying to impress an invisible jury.

But, for the present, totally suppress desire: for, if you desire any of the things which are not in your own control, you must necessarily be disappointed; and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to desire, nothing is yet in your possession.

Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation.

The system is designed so anyone can keep up. If you’re more driven than ‘just anyone’ — you can do so much more than anyone expects. And this applies to ALL of life — not just school.

If I don’t use what I learn, then it was pointless! How horrible to waste those hundreds of hours I spent learning, and not turn it into action.

For years, they worked on their craft every day, even if they weren’t in the mood. Always pushing, practicing, working, and improvingYes it takes thousands of hours of practice, but that’s good news! It’s a clear path and it’s under your control.

A bad goal makes you say, “I want to do that some day.” A great goal makes you take action immediately.

A rolling stone gathers no moss.

You should hammer your iron when it is glowing hot.

Practice is the best of all instructors.

To do two things at once is to do neither.

It takes a long time to bring excellence to maturity.

Seek to please many, and you seek a failure.

All really great things are happening in slow and inconspicuous ways.

You have to embrace what the wisdom of humanity, your intellect, and your heart tell you: that the meaning of life is to serve the force that sent you into the world. Then life becomes a constant joy.

Anyone who is engaged in really important things is very simple because he does not have time to create unnecessary things.

Your actions should be determined not by the desire of the people around you, but by the needs of all mankind.

If you can see all of the consequences of your actions, then your actions are of no use.

Act without expectation.

Do nothing through acting. Do everything through being.

You are -- your life, and nothing else.

Accomplish but do not boast, accomplish without show, accomplish without arrogance, accomplish without grabbing, accomplish without forcing.

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.

The way to do is to be.

Let life ripen and then fall, force is not the way at all.

By letting go it all gets done.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Do less and removing unnecessary things from our lives.

Trust your instincts. Do what feels right for you, rather than being overly influenced by external pressures or expectations.

Follow your natural curiosity by taking action on what interests you. Sidestep distractions, and allowing their natural concentration to guide you

The key factor between geniuses from the merely accomplished is deliberate practice. Geniuses spend many more hours rigorously practicing their craft compared to those who are simply accomplished.

We flourish when we flow for the sake of the action. To flow for the sake of the action we can put ourselves in situations where you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks.

When competition is a means to perfect one's skills it is useful. When competition becomes an end in itself, it ceases to be enjoyable or beneficial.

Much of life is about failure. Your destiny is shaped by how effectively you learn from and adapt to failure.

Practice self-detaching immersion by letting go of yourself and your attachments. Practice self-detaching immersion by focusing on the activity at hand with a purposeless tension that allows you to be fully present in the moment.

When you turn knowledge into action you unlock its potential and transform it into power that can be used to achieve your goals. You can turn knowledge into power by applying what you’ve learned with deliberate action.

To overcome perfectionism, focus on progress, creativity, and innovation. Recognise that that perfectionism hinders growth and limits your potential.

You can embrace long-term thinking by envisioning an exciting future outcome by keeping your focus and attention on the the actions in front of you. Maintain focus on what truly matters.

Focus on what truly matters and eliminate distractions.

Ditch the to-do list in favour of focusing on the top 3-4 most important tasks. This prioritises your time and energy.

Establish a morning routine, automated repetitive tasks and a reduction in unnecessary screen time. Planning your day the night before sets your intentions for the day. This helps you stay focused and organised. Knowing the day can prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and operating in reactionary mode.

Impossible is for the unwilling. John Keats

Live creatively by trusting your intuition, following your passions and staying open to new experiences and possibilities. https://freemind.substack.com/