A Formula to Improve Any Skill: Practice Analytically, Perform Intuitively
Be conservative early so you can be liberal later
When I have a pitch meeting for my show, I take pages and pages of notes. I rehearse exactly the lines I want to say — “If they say this, I’ll respond with X… But if they say Y, I’ll respond with Z!”
When the meeting happens, I keep the notes within arm's reach. Like an emergency floatation device, I’ve never once had to use them — but they put my mind at ease.
I let myself play. I flow into the conversation intuitively — I have the freedom to dance because I carefully constructed a dancefloor. There is no better way to improve yourself.
Conservative Early, Liberal Later
After college, I kept trying to “Eckhart Tolle” my way out of responsibility. Even though my proverbial house was on fire, I was like that meme dog saying, “this is fine.” I had bills on my desk, friends I lost contact with, and a job I didn’t like. I needed to get my life together so that I could afford to be present.
