A friend of mine, who had been abroad when the coronavirus hit globally and was fortunate enough to make it safely home without contracting the virus, clarified his intentions toward the end of the summer.

“I asked myself, ‘When I look back on this time, what would I regret that I didn’t do?’”

Using this guiding question, my friend decided to play more tennis and read more.

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There is nothing better than being deeply absorbed in an activity.

Whether it’s in an athletic pursuit, an intense conversation, or repairing something, the rest of the world drops away. You have only the moment and the task at hand.

If my plane is delayed for an hour or two, no problem. It’s okay — I have my knitting. Empires could crumble, and I’d just keep stitching contentedly, glancing up now and then to check on things.

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One of my most important tasks as a teacher is to prevent unnecessary frustration.

That implies that some frustration is necessary, which is true. But the feeling of losing ground (“I could do this perfectly yesterday, I swear!”) can be avoided.

It’s totally normal to have a warmup or review phase in any activity. I teach my students to do this in a systematic way that we call The Undertow. It provides a strong foundation for successful practice and progress. Here’s how it works:

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Due to, ya know, efforts to rein in a global pandemic, an unprecedented number of people are going to be staying home for an unprecedented amount of time.

Many of them are used to filling life with work and structured activities. What now?

Regardless of a person’s age, they are going to wander around listlessly if they’re not used to having all that free time. That’s why they’ll need to invest in a hobby.

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Teachers my have a reputation for torturing students, but many students do just fine torturing themselves.

Underlying many of our most painful experiences in growth and learning is an unnecessary belief that, once released, opens up all kinds of possibilities.

Often unstated by adults because it might be buried a bit deeper, we can count on kids to express this belief right out loud, which helps them get over it faster.

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