The Secret of "Natural" Behavior and Skill

The Success Mechanism within you can work in the same way to produce "creative doing" as it does to pro­duce "creative ideas." Skill in any performance, whether it be in sports, in playing the piano, in conversation, or in selling merchandise, consists not in painfully and con­sciously thinking out each action as it is performed, but in relaxing, and letting the job do itself through you. Cre­ative performance is spontaneous and "natural" as opposed to self-conscious and studied. The most skilled pianist in the world could never play a simple composition if he tried to consciously think out just which finger should strike which key—while he was playing. He has given conscious thought to this matter previously—while learn­ing, and has practiced until his actions become automatic and habit-like. He was able to become a skilled performer only when he reached the point where he could cease con­scious effort and turn the matter of playing over to the unconscious habit mechanism which is a part of the Suc­cess Mechanism.