Once when fishing, Seth Godin used a rod without the hook. There was no way he was gonna catch a fish. He knew that.
When others were trying hard to catch a fish (to get the outcome), he was focused on his practice alone (the input).
To learn to juggle, Seth says, throw one ball and let it drop, and repeat this with each hand. If you get good enough with throwing, the catching takes care of itself.
“Better to set aside judging yourself until after you’ve committed to the practice and done the work.”
Being fixated on the outcomes, you seek shortcuts and hacks, which distract you from the process.
When you’re incentivised to do something, you either do it through the process or you cheat. Students, incentivised to study more to get better grades, often resort to shortcuts, cheating and other means to get the outcome without the process. (That’s why you can’t really incentivise the right thing.)
Also: How can you remove outcomes from the practice? Throw the ball without a basket?
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I’m reading The Practice: Shipping Creative Work by Seth Godin