Everything is Practice for Everything

At a(om), the headline on our website reads “Everything is Practice for Everything”.

But, what does that mean? What does that mean, to you? What does it mean, to me? And most importantly, if we ever work together, what does this mean for us?

My use of the word practice carries a double entendre meaning. First, “practice” refers to what a person does while meditating; a specific set of actions tied to an idea, belief or method. People who meditate regularly refer to that collection of activities as a practice, as their practice. In the second meaning, “practice” is a verb; the repetition of a set of behaviors over and over with the intention of improving those behaviors over time.

When you think of practices you have in your life, what comes to mind?

When you picture yourself practicing something, what are you doing?

When was a time when these two things intersected? When you had a practice that you were practicing?

At a(om) we find that how we do one thing tends to be how we do everything. My avoidant behaviors I notice when procrastinating at work are so similar to my avoidant behaviors when I am “preparing” for a challenging rock climb; I occupy myself with slow, unnecessary preparatory measures allowing me to appear productive without actually starting the real work. How I avoid the “real work” here, is how I avoid the “real work” there. How I do one thing is how I do everything.

In our coaching, in our communication and leadership development work, we find the same to be true; how you do one thing is how you do everything. But the examples are not all negative, like my procrastination. No. We also find that when you learn to meet one challenge with an open, curious mind, you can use those same skills to meet all sorts of challenges with an open curious mind. And this work requires practice. Creating new habits requires practice. Above all, this means the work you do with a(om) will require practice.

Everything is practice for everything.