what if it’s all practice?

A coach once shared with me some neurological research related to practice. She told me that repetitions over time built literal pathways in the brain. The argument was, in part, that the pathways built over time are paths of less and less resistance. It’s easier for the electricity to flow through those built paths. It’s easier over time to do things the way you’ve already done them. 

The part that really threw me for a loop was when she said: Eric, you’re always practicing. Your whole day is practice. The way you talk to yourself is practice. The moves you make are practice. You are perpetually building the brain that will make some future moves seem like the best moves or even the only moves.

You are writing the default rules of yourself. Every day, you put your hand back on the pen. Pay attention. Are you writing or are you tracing?

-Eric