The Practicing Mind by Thomas M. Sterner

Favorite Quote
“The problem with patience and discipline is that it requires both of them to develop each of them.” — Thomas M. Sterner
The Book in One Sentence
The Practicing Mind shows you how to cultivate patience, focus, and discipline for working towards your biggest goals, by going back to the basic principles of practice, embracing a child-like trial-and-error attitude again and thus make working hard towards mastery a fulfilling process in itself.
Why should you read it?
This short book is the best guide on how to combine mindfulness and ambition that I’ve ever read. If you want to be great at what you do, be it writing, a corporate job, or being a parent, you need to master the process — and truly mastering anything takes decades.
Sterner explains how, when we humbly focus on that process without obsessing over the results, we’ll do better work almost instantly. Yet, simultaneously, we’ll find the patience we need to take the long-term view. This book is simple, inspiring, calming, fun, and to the point. I rarely see it talked about anywhere, yet I’d recommend it to anyone.
Key Takeaways
Forget your end goal every time you work.
Never use goals as an indicator of progress.
Apply the Do, Observe, Correct technique to keep your productivity in check.