Take a beginner's class

Join a martial arts or other class where you have no skills, to learn humility and see incremental progress.

Where it appears 1

• 
  the antidote to madnessEp 2 · with Grant Shipway

  Listen at 42:10Read it in the transcript

Connections

Said by

• Grant Shipway

Themes and ideas

• Beginner's Humility

More practices from this episode

• Write a thousand words a dayGrant Shipway · 1:15:13

  If you have a concrete idea for a novel, write every day. A thousand words is manageable; the first days are rusty, but after a week or ten days it grows to 1,500 and you'll reach the end.

• Finish the first draft ruthlesslyGrant Shipway · 1:17:39

  Be ruthless with yourself and allow no excuses to give up until the first draft is done. You won't win the marathon, but you can finish it.

• Go to an open micGrant Shipway · 40:30

  To get over perfectionism, go to amateur poetry readings or sign up for an open mic, read whatever you can, and listen to others who try and are proud of their efforts.

• Let a draft rest a monthGrant Shipway · 1:20:02

  After writing something, leave it for a month before editing so you see it with fresh eyes.

• Make the time, even late at nightTamir Barzilai · 1:16:50

  Like Murakami writing two hours a night at the kitchen table after work, carve out time despite money, circumstances and space.

• Join a book club to stretchTamir Barzilai · 1:23:15

  Tamir joined a book club in 2020 specifically to read fiction he would never pick up on his own.