Here are 10 thoughts on daily practice. To learn a lot more about daily practice, please get your hands on my book The Power of Daily Practice.

1.

A daily practice may sound like too much regimentation. In fact, it is the path to freedom.

“Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice.”—Thich Nhat Hanh

2.

Daily practice is the path to freedom. It is also the path to excellence.

“I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true—hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice.”—Ray Bradbury

3.

Maybe you are ordinary in a lot of ways. But you can be extraordinary at your daily practice.

“I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.”—Will Smith

4.

Practice is a way to make use of your mind. Mind and practice go together.

“Many roads lead to the path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.”—Bodhidharma

5.

What will you practice? That which you want to accomplish.

“Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.”—Emil Zatopek

6.

You could wait to begin your daily practice until you are the exact right person to practice and perfectly equal to practicing. Or you could just begin.

“Meditation practice is not about later, when you get it all together and you’re this person you really respect.”—Pema Chodron

7.

Simple doesn’t mean static. Simple doesn’t mean doing exactly the same thing each day. Simple means doing the thing appropriate to that day’s practice.

“I find it’s only when something is trying to come through that I really practice. And then, I don’t know how many hours I spend. It could be all day.”—John Coltrane

8.

You can run a quarter mile but not a mile? Then run a quarter mile. And run another quarter mile. And run another quarter mile. And run another quarter mile. That’s a mile. Simple.

“Do what you can and you’ll soon be able to do what you can’t.”—Hunter Post

9.

What will you lose if you don’t practice regularly? Maybe your voice and your career.

“It happens to the best of them. You lay off singing and your throat gets out of practice. No excuses. I blew it.”—Bobby Darin

10.

Can a given daily practice no longer serve us? Of course, it can. But until it really no longer serves us, we keep at it. Just not being in the mood or just having lots to do aren’t good reasons to miss our regular daily practice.

“We need to learn how to honor and use a practice for as long as it serves us.”—Jack Kornfield