Yes, by practice, then practice and some more practice. But the word “practice” is not necessarily the verb “to practice”. It does not have to imply an effort you make in order to get something further down the road, after you’ve practiced long enough.

A practice is much more than that… Here’s George Leonard’s explanation for PRACTICE in his book “Mastery”:

That usage of the word—practice as a verb—is clear to all of us. You practice your trumpet, your dance routine, your multiplication tables, your combat mission.

To practice in this sense implies something separate from the rest of your life. You practice in order to learn a skill, in order to improve yourself, in order to get ahead, achieve goals, make money. This way of thinking about practice is useful in our society; you obviously have to practice to get to Carnegie Hall.

For one who is on the master’s journey, however, the word is best conceived of as a noun, not as something you do, but as something you have, something you are. In this sense, the word is akin to the Chinese word tao and the Japanese word do, both of which mean, literally, road or path. Practice is the path upon which you travel, just that.

A practice (as a noun) can be anything you practice on a regular basis as an integral part of your life—not in order to gain something else, but for its own sake.

It might be a sport or a martial art. It might be gardening or bridge or yoga or meditation or community service. A doctor practices medicine and an attorney practices law, and each of them also has a practice.

But if that practice is only a collection of patients or clients, a way of making a living, it isn’t a master’s practice. For a master, the rewards gained along the way are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimately, the master and the master’s path are one. And if the traveler is fortunate— that is, if the path is complex and profound enough—the destination is two miles farther away for every mile he or she travels.

The following article was courtesy of NLPweekly.com. It’s an amazing site that really will get you thinking.

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