The Practicing Mind

Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life

By: Thomas M. Sterner

Narrated by: Thomas M. Sterner

Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Present moment awareness is an essential ingredient in life if one expects to experience any degree of authentic peace and contentment. It has been acknowledged for centuries as the cornerstone of spiritual awakening in all traditions of Eastern thought. In the West, however, it is still a relatively unrecognized concept for living.

The Western mind is always restless, never content with the moment. Its internal dialogue is always firing off thoughts filled with emotional content and pulling the individual out of the present and into the past or future. But individuals raised in Western culture are becoming increasingly aware of their overall sense of mental exhaustion, their lack of discipline and their inability to focus on demand. They are willing to expend the energy necessary to experience inner peace and a quiet mind that is waiting to follow the direction of their will. They are realizing that the endless struggle to fulfill the insatiable appetite of instant gratification is fruitless and tiresome at best. They are ripe for a new path in life and eager for a new set of instructions.

This is the purpose of The Practicing Mind. It comprehensively deals with helping the individual understand exactly what present-moment awareness is, how we are raised in a manner contradictory to this, and how we change our mindset to make this a part of our daily living. This book is accessible to listeners of all philosophical backgrounds. Regardless of your perspective, you will find the book's insights most compelling.

©2012 New World Library (P)2014 Thomas M Sterner

How to stay in the moment

Excellent ways to stay in the moment, and what that means. Gives baby steps to develop the mindset.

Luckily Thomas' writing is much better than his reading.

Impactful message with great examples

The examples used were very strong and were everyday examples so you could relate to them. The only downside was the narration wasn't up to par with the book. Still worth listening to

A must have.

A must have for anyone trying to get their mind on track and their life refocused.

It said this field was optional.

Nothing super new here if you're familiar with the underlying concepts, but a nice reminder and good illustrative examples for those looking for a nudge towards the present.

really good.

Loved it. He made some really valid and interesting points. i would recommend it definitely.

inspection does not equal truth

good suggestions and advice, but the author overgeneralized his introspective thoughts to be truth. the word "you" was used excessively, and was a bit of a turn off

Read if you have leisure time

It's an alright book, most points repeated again. I can see me complaining about this can be an irony in terms of what message this book conveys but yes. Very few useful points which could have been much more precise.

Life is basic.

My wife and I share the same audible account I normally focus on business and real estate books. When I saw this book I figured its something that will help me have a clear mind that I started reading it and really saw how basic things have to be not so hard or complicated. I will always have a few nuggets that this book gave me to always remember about how to be basic in life.

Practice is freedom

If the term "your brain is muscle" is true, then this is playbook that shows you how. The narrator is terribly robotic and hard to listen to. However, if you bypass it or just get the print version, you will find this book very useful and a must read like I did. I struggle with impulsive ADD and my mind is always running rapid and takes control of the wheel rather then the other way around. If your like me, then you will find this book very helpful. The author lays out useful and most importantly, concise and affective practice you can employ like triggers for when you feel yourself losing control of your mind. No wishy you washy vision board crap that doesn't work. The author also shows you how and why your mind works the way it is and explains how like hitting reps in the gym for your abs, you can intentionally work out your mind to be more affective through the understanding and actualization of practice. This book definitely changed my approach and way of thinking about practice and how we must be more intentional about how we show up to practice. A definite most read for anyone who wants to get better at their craft.

Good read/listen

This was my follow up read/audiobook to "10% Happier" by Dan Harris. Some of the themes in this book were similar to Harris'. I liked how it walked through the importance of self-discipline, practice, and not multi-tasking. I've incorporated "focusing on the process or practice rather than focusing on the end result." It does make the task/goal more attainable when focusing this way I did find it repetitive, at times. However, overall, it's a good read/listen.