Mastering something goes beyond the idea of knowing that something theoretically. As knowledge is incomplete without experience, so is conceptual understanding unsatisfactory without practice.Therefore, taking steps into a practical direction, doing something rather than just reading theoretical notions on the subject may imply you going to extreme lengths as exiting your comfort zone. However, this has always been the only successful way to obtain in the first place and then develop certain skills.

Go from knowing to doing

While controlling your thoughts and emotions has been long claimed to be extremely challenging, if not impossible, controlling your behaviour falls into a completely different category. Consequently, while forcing yourself at the very beginning into adopting a routine that involves practicing, doing, may turn out to be quite challenging, you will notice how in time, the routine itself will start building up your motivation to go on with the ‘doing’.

Control your behaviour

Take your thoughts to a more practical level. After having defined your goals, then done a little research on how to achieve them, make sure you start taking steps in order to turn them into reality. Get down to ‘doing the job’ and you will soon realize it took less than imagined.

Get practical

<div>
<a href="https://medium.com/@BStulberg?source=post_page-----943469d43480----------------------"><img src="https://miro.medium.com/fit/c/96/96/1*KepPl4D-bi3rzMcx3wQdtQ.jpeg"></a> You can't think, wish, or feel yourself into a new mindset. Here's a common trap: You tell yourself I'm reading, thinking, and talking about whatever it is I want to be doing, so I'm good. But reading, thinking, and talking about something isn't the same thing as doing it. If you really want to change, you've got to start doing it.
I call this the knowing-doing gap.
Yes, some level of knowing, of conceptual understanding, is important. But just because you know something inside and out doesn't mean it's taken deep roots inside of you. That kind of depth and transformation tends only to follow action. Taking action isn't easy, particularly if you are acting in a way that runs counter to your built up habit energies; cultural forces; workplace pressures; or family patterns. Sometimes taking action - even if you know it's the right thing to do - can feel like a chore, especially at first. But there is no escaping the fact that skillful action is the pathway to productive change.
<blockquote>
A consistent practice may take at least a little motivation to get going, but over time the equation is reversed. Dedicating yourself to the practice, no matter how you feel, is what builds motivation. 
</blockquote>
Cognitive behavioral therapy, which helps individuals through a range of mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, places an immense focus on the "behavior" part of the equation. That's because it's hard, if not impossible, to control your thoughts and the subsequent feelings they generate. Longstanding <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-33493-001">research</a> has found that the more you try to suppress a certain thought or feeling the stronger that thought or feeling becomes. And the inverse is also true: the more you try to will a certain thought or feeling into being, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2839199/">less likely</a> it will happen.
What you can control, however, is your behavior - that is, your actions. And this is important because mood follows action. You don't have to feel great, or even good for that matter, to act. Sure, a consistent practice may take at least a little motivation to get going, but over time the equation is reversed. Dedicating yourself to the practice, no matter how you feel, is what builds motivation. The practice is what makes you feel good and changes your mindset, not the other way around.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Yes, you've got to know what you're doing, and perhaps why you're doing it too. But then you've got to do it.
Show up - even when you don't want to - and act in service of your core values. That's the only way you'll become them.
***
Brad Stulberg (<a href="https://twitter.com/Bstulberg">@Bstulberg</a>) writes about performance and wellbeing. He is the bestselling author of the new book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1635653436/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=peakperformance20-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=1635653436&amp;linkId=f51a1086173597e32f637745ae25c5ae">The Passion Paradox</a><a href="https://amzn.to/2zdOaxk">Peak Performance</a>. You can subscribe to his weekly newsletter <a href="https://www.passionparadoxbook.com/newsletter-1">here</a>. </div>

You can't think, wish, or feel yourself into a new mindset. Here's a common trap: You tell yourself I'm reading, thinking, and talking about whatever it is I want to be doing, so I'm good. But reading, thinking, and talking about something isn't the same thing as doing it.

Show Up. Mood Follows Action.

Go from knowing to doing

Control your behaviour

Get practical

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