Page 53 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

My whole life I have worked on thi s issue. Mental resilience is argua bl y the
most critical trait of a world-class per former, and it sho ul d be nur tur ed

continuously. Left to my own devices, I am always looki ng for ways to be come
more and more psychologically impr egnab le. When unco mfortabl e, my
instinct is not to avoid the discomfort but to beco me at peace with it. Whe n
injured, which happens frequently in the life of a martial artist, I try to avoid

painkillers and to change the sensation of pai n int o a feeling tha t is no t
necessarily negative. My instinct is always to seek out chal lenges as oppo sed to
avoiding them.
This type of internal work can take pl ace in the little moments of our lives.

I mentioned how my style over the bo ard was to create chessic mayhe m and
then to sort my way through the chaos more effectively than my oppo ne nt s.
This was a muscle I built up by training myself to be at peace with the unc lear
and tumultuous—and most of the training was in everyday life. For exampl e,

since my teens, when I play cards, say gin rum my, I rarely arrange my ha nd. I
leave the melds all over the place and do the organ ization in my he ad. I’ve
never been a neat guy by nature, and I fur ther ed my messines s for years by
consciously leaving my living area chao tic so I coul d practice organ izing thi ngs

mentally and being mellow in the madnes s.
Of course this process is never compl ete. As I am writing thi s section, a
lawn mower just went into gear right out side. A few minut es ago I go t up to
close the window, but then I sat back do wn and left it open . The irony was too

thick.

I. The chapter Building Your Trigger in Part III of this book, will lay out my methodology for cultivating
the ability to enter the zone at will.
II. Pioneers’ Palaces were state-funded youth centers in the U.S.S.R. in which dedicated children were
trained in specific disciplines. These schools were famous for pumping out highly professionalized young
chess players. Most Pioneers’ Palaces were shut down with the fall of the Soviet Union.

III. See the chapters Using Adversity in Part II of the book and Building Your Trigger in Part III.