Stillness Is the Key by Ryan Holiday

But if we can clear space, if we can consciously empty our mind,
as Green did, insights and breakthroughs happen. The perfect swing
connects perfectly with the ball.
There is a beautiful paradox to this idea of void.
The Daodejing points out that when clay is formed around
emptiness, it becomes a pitcher that can hold water. Water from the
pitcher is poured into a cup, which is itself formed around emptiness.
The room this all happens in is itself four walls formed around
emptiness.
Do you see? By relying on what’s not there, we actually have
something worth using. During the recording of her album Interiors,
the musician Rosanne Cash posted a simple sign over the doorway of
the studio. “Abandon Thought, All Ye Who Enter Here.” Not because
she wanted a bunch of unthinking idiots working with her, but
because she wanted everyone involved—included herself—to go
deeper than whatever was on the surface of their minds. She wanted
them to be present, connected to the music, and not lost in their
heads.
Imagine if Kennedy had spent the Cuban Missile Crisis obsessing
over the Bay of Pigs. Imagine if Shawn Green had tried frantically to
re-create his swing because it wasn’t working, or if he had faced
those pitchers with a racing mind, filled with insecurities and
desperation. We’ve all experienced that—Don’t mess up. Don’t mess
up. Don’t forget, we say to ourselves—and what happens? We do
exactly what we were trying not to do!
Whatever you face, whatever you’re doing will require, first and
foremost, that you don’t defeat yourself. That you don’t make it
harder by overthinking, by needless doubts, or by second-guessing.
That space between your ears—that’s yours. You don’t just have
to control what gets in, you also have to control what goes on in
there. You have to protect it from yourself, from your own thoughts.
Not with sheer force, but rather with a kind of gentle, persistent
sweeping. Be the librarian who says “Shhh!” to the rowdy kids, or
tells the jerk on his phone to please take it outside.
Because the mind is an important and sacred place.
Keep it clean and clear.