Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin: How to learn anything
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\nAbout the Author
\nJosh Waitzkin first caught a glimpse of a chess set while 6 years old and walking with his mother in New York City\u2019s Washington Square Park. He was going to play on the monkey bars, and instead he fell in love with the art that would dominate much of his young life.
\nJosh\u2019s first teachers were down and out hustlers\u2013street virtuosos who took Josh under their wings and cleaned up their acts when their prot\xe9g\xe9 came to play.
\nAt twenty-one, Josh began to transition away from his early career in chess and into the study of the chinese martial art, Tai Chi Chuan with Grandmaster William CC Chen.
\nHe was drawn into the art by his love for eastern philosophy and meditation, and by the desire to begin a learning process anew, as a total beginner, away from the spotlight that constantly followed his chess career.
\nInitially Josh had no intention of competing in the martial arts, but there was no stopping the inevitable. He\u2019s gone on to win countless medals, international competitions and acclaim as a competitor.
\nIn 2008, Waitzkin founded\xa0The JW Foundation, an educational non-profit dedicated to an individualized approach to learning, and he currently serves as president of the organization. In addition to consulting internationally on the subjects of performance psychology, the learning process and creativity, Josh is currently focusing on his third art:
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Don\u2019t try and follow Josh online, he\u2019s famously anti-social media.
\nSource:\xa0https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/
\nClick here to buy on The Book Depository
\nhttps://www.bookdepository.com/The-Art-of-Learning/9780743277464/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf
\nAbout the Book
\nIn 2007, Josh released his second book,\xa0The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.
\nThe book is an autobiographical discussion of the learning process and performance psychology. Drawn from Josh\u2019s experiences in both chess and the martial arts.
\nIn\xa0The Art of Learning\xa0Josh reveals his unique systems of thematic learning, idea generation, building resilience, and mastering the art of performance psychology.
\nSource:\xa0https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/
\nLinks
\nListen to some very deep interviews with Josh here:\xa0https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/videos
\nListen to the latest Tim Ferriss interview with Josh. It\u2019s all about learning to surf (this isn\u2019t yet uploaded to Josh\u2019s website in the link above)\xa0https://tim.blog/2019/06/27/josh-waitzkin/
\nRead the first chapter of the Art of Learning here:\xa0https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/the-art-of- learning
\nJoin Josh\u2019s Art of Learning project here:\xa0https://theartoflearningproject.org/
\nBIG IDEA 1 (3:46) \u2013 Excellence is in the long game.
\nJosh talks about fixed and incremental (or growth) mindset. The incremental mindset is the key to getting better. He saw many kids playing chess growing up whose self worth was wrapped in something that was very fragile (them winning). Therefore struggled to cope with losing.
\nWhen he was little he practiced a lot and was regularly thinking about performance, psychology and resilience. He thought about how he can maintain resilience, good mindset and how to get better. He talks about going from the safety of playing against mediocre players to playing with players who are more challenging in order to improve.
\nBIG IDEA 2 (6:02) \u2013 Embrace chaos.
\nThis about the fact that conditions can\u2019t always be perfect. Therefore top performers need to be unrattled by imperfect conditions. He saw particularly in the kids circuit that some kids launch psychological warfare on their opponent in order to rattle them.
\nJosh learned how to switch on almost immediately when faced with unexpected circumstances. Whether it\u2019s listening to a particular song or taking a couple of breaths, whatever it was, he needed to get back into the flow state and quickly. Because conditions will not always be perfect, you need to learn to adapt to that.
\nFind what gives you order but also learn to live without it. If you have things that you need for the condition to be perfect, you are potentially not as adaptable as you could be, and can be thrown easier.\xa0
\nBIG IDEA 3 (9:35) \u2013 Find coaches and the beginner\u2019s mind.
\nAll the way through his different arts Josh found the right coaches. He found people who are masters of their field and learned from them. They were very carefully chosen and it was always very intentional when he chose to leave them. This is when they didn\u2019t challenge him enough or came to a plateau where he couldn\u2019t be taken forward any longer.\xa0
\nHe talks about his coaches and how they are a fundamental part of his success. If you look at elite performers in business, sports or whatever field, all of them have had mentors, coaches etc. helping them along the way.\xa0
\nThe point on the beginner\u2019s mind is about breaking skills down. It\u2019s about breaking down the component parts and the skills needed to be excellent.\xa0
\nJosh also talks about creating the discipline for the elemental practice. It\u2019s the mastery of the basics that make you good. The beginner\u2019s mind is also about putting your ego to the side and looking at things from a fresh sense.
\nMusic By:\xa0\xa0Vuelta al Sol Song byTomas Novoa
\nClick here to buy on The Book Depository
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