Letting go of judgements has been key to loosening the grip of my Self1. Just doing the thing and seeing any mistakes as learning opportunities is freeing and an enjoyable way to show up at work and life. I need read Inner Game of Tennis again. Thanks!
"I told myself for far too long “you should appreciate what you have” a voice that it seems many other people in good-paying jobs have these days." amen. That condition goes deep, I am now learning to say FUCK THAT VOICE. 🙏
Great piece on “inner game”, Paul! Been interested in this topic for a bit. I wonder how these principles of inner game can be applied to the acts of writing, interviewing, and other forms of creation.
Reminds me of a book called Daily Rituals, which is a collection of daily rituals by famous writer. Here’s a link to an article about the book:
I read the Inner Game of Golf recently and loved Gallwey's take on our inner critics and why we're too nice to them:
"Golf is traditionally a game played in silence. Few players will tolerate another person saying a word to them once they have addressed the ball. Then why are we so tolerant of Self 1’s
distracting voice chattering within our own head? If another person in the foursome were to
remark, “You’d better watch out for that sand trap in front of the green,” we’d probably accuse him of trying to psych us and try to ignore him. But if Self 1 whispers the same
sentence in our heads, we listen as if he were a trusted friend and may even reply, “Thanks
for reminding me: I’ll try hard to avoid it.” Of course disaster in one form or another usually
follows. My own best golf is played when everything is quiet inside as well as out."
Your experience with typos at McKinsey reminded me of going through a similar experience working in advertising. I used to think we were so sloppy letting spelling mistakes through, but later I learned to see it as prioritizing substance over minor details. One of the lessons from the field I appreciate.
I really enjoyed reading this. I was a tennis coach for a while, and I relied on Tim Gallway's philosophy of coaching. One of the main things I learned is to accept that we will keep missing many shots for as long as we keep playing the game, and that doesn't mean we're flawed. It is, simply, part of the journey, and we're better off letting those "misses" go and moving on to the next shot. It's wonderful how what we learn on the court then impacts how we behave in other areas of our life, and can liberate us from our fears, if we let it. Thanks for sharing!
Letting go of judgements has been key to loosening the grip of my Self1. Just doing the thing and seeing any mistakes as learning opportunities is freeing and an enjoyable way to show up at work and life. I need read Inner Game of Tennis again. Thanks!
"I told myself for far too long “you should appreciate what you have” a voice that it seems many other people in good-paying jobs have these days." amen. That condition goes deep, I am now learning to say FUCK THAT VOICE. 🙏
Great piece on “inner game”, Paul! Been interested in this topic for a bit. I wonder how these principles of inner game can be applied to the acts of writing, interviewing, and other forms of creation.
Reminds me of a book called Daily Rituals, which is a collection of daily rituals by famous writer. Here’s a link to an article about the book:
https://lithub.com/the-long-tradition-of-writers-needing-ritual/
Also, thanks for including Things That Should Exist in this post. Much appreciated 😊
Oooh this looks cool
yeah its a fun one! Balzac drank 50 cups of coffee a day as part of his ritual. must've had the right blood type.
https://www.wakacoffee.com/blogs/coffeelifeblog/writer-that-drank-50-cups-of-coffee-a-day
I read the Inner Game of Golf recently and loved Gallwey's take on our inner critics and why we're too nice to them:
"Golf is traditionally a game played in silence. Few players will tolerate another person saying a word to them once they have addressed the ball. Then why are we so tolerant of Self 1’s
distracting voice chattering within our own head? If another person in the foursome were to
remark, “You’d better watch out for that sand trap in front of the green,” we’d probably accuse him of trying to psych us and try to ignore him. But if Self 1 whispers the same
sentence in our heads, we listen as if he were a trusted friend and may even reply, “Thanks
for reminding me: I’ll try hard to avoid it.” Of course disaster in one form or another usually
follows. My own best golf is played when everything is quiet inside as well as out."
Thanks for writing this Paul!
Your topic of rest and getting away was timely! Growth occurs when we rest:
- Muscles grow when recovering
- World-class athletes have planned rest
- The Sabbath was created for rest
We should all take a lesson and ensure we have planned rest.
Your experience with typos at McKinsey reminded me of going through a similar experience working in advertising. I used to think we were so sloppy letting spelling mistakes through, but later I learned to see it as prioritizing substance over minor details. One of the lessons from the field I appreciate.
Thanks for the shoutout, Paul! Love the Inner Game, such a powerful frame for tennis and life.
I really enjoyed reading this. I was a tennis coach for a while, and I relied on Tim Gallway's philosophy of coaching. One of the main things I learned is to accept that we will keep missing many shots for as long as we keep playing the game, and that doesn't mean we're flawed. It is, simply, part of the journey, and we're better off letting those "misses" go and moving on to the next shot. It's wonderful how what we learn on the court then impacts how we behave in other areas of our life, and can liberate us from our fears, if we let it. Thanks for sharing!
?
Oh no. Sorry unfortunately didn’t follow up with him. I could though. Let me dig through and see if I remember who it was.