Page 89 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

If a young athlete is expected to perform br illiantly in hi s fi st ga mes withi n
this new system, he will surely di sappo int . He needs time to interna lize the

new skills before he will improve. The same can be said abo ut a che ss pl ayer
adjusting to a new opening repertoire, a martial artist learning a new
technique, or a golfer, for exampl e Tiger Woods , taking apar t his swing in
order to make a long-term improvement.

How can we incorporate these ideas into the real world? In certain
competitive arenas—our working lives, for exampl e—ther e are seldo m weeks
in which performance does not matter. Similarly, it is no t so di ffi ul t to ha ve a
beginner’s mind and to be willing to invest in loss when you are trul y a

beginner, but it is much harder to maintain that hum ility and ope nne ss to
learning when people are watching and expect ing you to perform. True
enough. This was a huge problem for me in my ches s career after the movie
came out. P sychologically, I didn’t gi ve myself the r oom to inv est in l oss.

My response is that it is essential to have a liber ating incremental approach
that allows for times when you are no t in a peak performance state. We mus t
take responsibility for ourselves, and no t expect the rest of the world to
understand what it takes to become the bes t that we can become. Great one s

are willing to get burned time and again as they shar pen thei r swords in the
fire. Consider Michael Jordan. It is common kno wledge that Jordan made more
last-minute shots to win the game for his team than any other player in the
history of the NBA. What is not so well kno wn, is that Jordan also missed

more last-minute shots to lose the game for hi s team than any othe r pl ayer in
the history of the game. What made hi m the gr eatest was not perfection, but a
willingness to put himself on the line as a way of life. Did he suf fer all tho se
nights when he sent twenty thousand Bul ls fans ho me heartbr oken ? Of cour se.

But he was willing to look bad on the r oad to bas ket bal l immortality.