Practice Matters

It's my first sketchnote after almost 5 weeks of not touching a pen.

My circles are wonky.
My lines lack confidence.
The spacing is too wide, or too squished.

And that's okay.

It highlights the importance of practice - not just practicing technical skills, like drawing, but also practicing those elusive human skills too.

When I lead a book circle with a client, my goal is always to move beyond discussion.

Discussion is only in the head.

It lacks the hands.
It lacks the practice.

As I plan for our upcoming book circle around "Deliberate Calm" by Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten), Aaron De Smet, and Michiel Kruyt, my intention will be to create activities that will allow us to experience the ideas of the book, not just talk about them.

Some of the activities may seem contrived, but that's only an opinion.

What matters is that the readers move out of the heads and into their hearts and hands.

What matters is that they move from theory to practice.

Just like with my sketchnoting.

I can read book after book on sketchnoting, but that just allows me to talk about it at a dinner party.

The act of putting pen to paper, yes the "old school" way, is what allows me to improve with each stroke of the pen.

Is there anything you're practicing right now?

Originally posted on LinkedIn with comments.

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