Q & A with Dr. B.

Dr. Larry Berkelhammer

The purpose of this website, my book, and the Community Education course I teach at the College of Marin, is to teach people how to live a vibrant, meaningful life through the cultivation of self-empowerment and self-efficacy. In this weekly Q&A column, I post questions from students and from people who attend my presentations along with my answers.

Here is this week’s question: What’s the difference how you practice? Isn’t practice the main thing?

Answer: If you play a musical instrument, a sport, or any type of art form, then you know that practice is necessary in order to be able to compete or to perform. However, it is very easy to fall into the common trap of focusing on winning or playing at a certain level, in other words, the final product, rather than on the process. There are rewards in focusing on the process rather than on the final product. For one thing, the process includes mindfulness. For another, you will achieve more by staying present during your practice.

This website is offered as a free public service, supplying information that has been found helpful to certain people living with chronic health challenges or issues related to wellbeing. No treatment is offered on this website. The advice is general, and may or may not apply to your individual situation, and is not a substitute for psychotherapy or medical treatment.

If you would like to ask me something, you can type your question in the comment box below. An answer to your specific question may not necessarily appear in this column. The reason for that is I wait until I get a certain number of related questions, then I pick one that covers them all and I answer that one.