Mental Representation… an incredibly useful distinction and an incredibly rare capacity
I loved the book ‘Peak, the new science of expertise’, until almost the very end. Then I got angry.
Somewhere around 90% of the book I noticed that he uses an expression, a phrase, that means something to him, the author, but meant nothing to me.
Now I know how you feel when you read my articles…
The expression he used was “Mental Representation“.
One of the most useful things I have ever done is this:
I would find a mentor. I offered my services to do whatever needed done. More often than not I learned useful skills through the doing. Skills that I needed for myself. And while I was around the mentor, I could learn from him.
Life needs a lot of skills to do life successfully. The opportunities to learn those skills is sparse… Because skills are not knowledge, even if they are mental, intellectual skills: they are the ability to do, to perform a skill… not to understand it.
To learn skills on your own stuff is very difficult. Why? Because you are too invested, you
I lead a workshop on Sunday. I had knowledge, I had strategy. I executed it. It was sloppy. What was missing?
I didn’t know. But “god” works in mysterious ways, the book I am reading has an answer that shows me what has been missing for me on Sunday and all my life.
The book, Peak, the new science of expertise, calls it Mental Representation.
Mental Representation is being able to see the finished product in your mind’s eye, and also see the process getting there, so you can anticipate missteps, and can correct, given that you
As you may know, I am doing my second round of the 67 steps. In step 13 Tai says something like this: if you are not happy, don’t throw everything away. It is possible that the unhappiness is due to a mismatch of your current lifestyle with your social needs…
Huh?
So I went back in my memory to different stages of my business, or the different businesses I had. And lo and behold, I found something totally freaky: I was happiest when I had at least one person cooperating with me in my business. Even if the cooperation was minor, and we didn’t interact much. Just knowing
Some days I have nothing to say. It doesn’t feel like there is anything to say that needs to be said.
Some people never have anything to say and they talk all the time. Others think that they have to first formulate it in their heads to say it, and it never comes together.
Professional thinkers, writers know that “it is hard to be silently brilliant. Lots of thoughts occur wen you open your mouth.”
Thinking is a lot like digging for gold. Someone or something has to hold the dirt, or you can’t get beneath it.
For something worth thinking, something worth saying
Few people are intelligent.
Intelligence is a state where you can see the sameness, where you see that life has no boundaries.
Of course it seems as if there were boundaries, but it’s an illusion… cells have walls, but it is permeable, you have skin, but it is permeable, you are a human, but you are just like everything else, built of cells, like most every living being, have genes, like every living being, and your body performs chemical miracles, every living moment.
But most importantly, you live as if you were
When you managed to open yourself up to the guidance of consciousness, the guidance is pouring abundantly.
Before, it is a trickle of guidance here, and trickle of guidance there.
In the previous article I told you what I did to get guidance from consciousness in the area of defining the five stages of consciousness, through my methodology can take you through… all the way to the top.
I wrote the article, and then I went to cook some lunch for myself.
As I was slicing onions, then cubing turkey, I saw another way to illustrate the l
There is a myth humans hold onto, that if they stay angry and something or someone, then they are better people than who
they are angry at.
All pretense… which is bad in and of itself, but there is more…
When you are mad at something you did, or mad at someone who did something you recognize… then you are hooked.
Hooked in that angry mode of existence.
Locked in the anger, locked out of freedom, future, happiness.
As long as you hold onto that anger.
I think it may be useful to di
I saw something this morning.
I was knocked awake… painfully.
How many things you know how to do, how many things can you do?
Thousands of things.
And how many do you do? Tens, max.
But you don’t do them… you think about doing them. Not even in a planning to do way, but in a “that would be the thing to do” way. Like air guitar, like punching the air p
THE ANCIENTS SAID:
“(SELF-)CULTIVATION TAKES AN UNIMAGINABLE TIME (WHILE) ENLIGHTENMENT IN AN INSTANT IS ATTAINED.”
IF THE TRAINING IS EFFICIENT, ENLIGHTENMENT WILL BE ATTAINED IN ONE FINGERSNAP.
IN DAYS GONE BY CH’AN MASTER HUI CHUEH OF LANG YEH MOUNTAIN, HAD A DISCIPLE WHO CALLED ON HIM FOR INSTRUCTION. THE MASTER TAUGHT HER TO EXAMINE INTO THE SENTENCE: “TAKE NO NOTICE.”
SHE FOLLOWED HIS INSTRUCTION STRICTLY WITHOUT BACKSLIDING.
ONE DAY HER HOUSE CAUGHT FIRE, BUT SHE SAID: “TAKE NO NOTICE.”
ANOTHER DAY, HER SON FELL INTO THE WATER AND WHEN A BYSTANDER CALLED HER, SHE