CENTER POINT
THE CENTER FOR SELF-CHANGE NEWSLETTER

Vol. 2, No. 7- JULY, 2008

THE POWER OF PRACTICE

J. Kingston Cowart
"The Change Maker"

Do and understand.
(Exodus 24:7)

Doing comes before understanding. Understanding comes by doing. That is the source of our power to succeed.

Too often, however, we seem to say that we will only do something after we understand it - once we have some proof of it. We tell ourselves and others that this is the practical approach.

But that actually goes against the very idea of what "practical" really means in the first place.

We derive our English word "practical" from the Greek praktikos, which pertains to action. Praktikos is based in turn on praxis, meaning both "doing" and "action."

It is practice (taking action) which leads to results. At the true beginnings of our successes, we don't get results first and then practice what leads to them.

It is, true of course, that once practice produces results then those results can motivate further practice. But that only proves the point that doing comes first.

After all, how can I get good at hitting a baseball with a bat unless I start doing it before I understand how to do it?

In the beginning I'm just swinging the bat to no effect. My timing is off. My spatial relationship to the ball is wrong. My coordination is poor.

I keep practicing nonetheless and then at some point I hit the ball. The more I practice, the better I get. Eventually I can say that I understand how to hit a ball with a bat.

How did that happen?

I started doing something I did not yet know how to do.

That's the truly practical approach - and the only one that works.

Here's something I have always tried to convey to my students and clients (whether in self-hypnosis, or martial arts, public speaking, or any other discipline):

Keep moving toward it and it will come to you.

You do not have to initially understand something like self-hypnosis, for instance, in order to practice it - and get the results you seek.

That's just as true for developing good relationships with bosses, coworkers, employees, neighbors and family members - or anything else - as it is for hitting a ball (or even learning to read a newsletter like this one).

Success comes from practicing the practical power of practice.

You may need some coaching at first. (It was my mother who taught me to hit a baseball.) You certainly don't want to practice the wrong thing. That would only create more problems.

Your coach - if you need one - can be a book, a counselor, a consultant, or a friend.

Your true mentor will be practice itself. That's where the power to succeed comes from.

Just continue practicing whatever you want to get good at ...

because as you keep moving toward it ...

it is coming to you.

.J. Kingston Cowart

JOIN THE CENTER CIRCLE

It's easy. Every Wednesday
for a few minutes between
10:00 and Noon sit down and
turn inward - through prayer,
meditation, self-hypnosis or
any modality you choose -
and send out good thoughts
to everyone else in the circle.

I'll be there. How about you?

J. Kingston Cowart
www.self-change.com
619.561.9012
Post Office Box 19005
San Diego CA 92159

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