The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

the real challenge is to stay in range of this long-term perspective when you are under fire and hurting in the middle of the war. This, maybe our biggest hurdle, is at the core of the art of learning.

In William Chen’s Tai Chi form, expansive (outward or upward) movements occur with an in-breath, so the body and mind wake up, energize into a shape.

The next step in the process is the critical one: after he had fully internalized his routine, I suggested that he do it the morning before going to an important meeting. So Dennis transplanted his routine from a prelude to playing catch with his son to a prelude to work.

While refined mental competitors can have extended dialogues of this nature, in my observation most people are relatively unaware of their psychological subtleties. This makes for easy pickings for the astute rival. So beware when squaring off with a well-versed negotiator, salesman, or lawyer! Understand that the battle stretches well beyond the t

Once a simple inhalation can trigger a state of tremendous alertness, our moment-to-moment awareness becomes blissful,

In your performance training, the first step to mastering the zone is to practice the ebb and flow of stress and recovery.

we do this by zooming in on very small details to which others are completely oblivious.

I believe that at the highest levels, performers and artists must be true to themselves. There can be no denial, no repression of true personality, or else the creation will be false—the performer will be alienated from his or her intuitive voice.

Only you know your own body, but the key to nutrition in unpredictable environments like Taiwanese martial arts tournaments is to always be prepared for exertion by being nourished, but never to have too full a stomach and thereby dull your senses.