âSimplify. Do small sections. Short periods of time. Go Slow.â â Thomas M. Sterner
These four simple principlesâSimplify, Small, Short, Slowâform the practical foundation for applying the practicing mind to any skill or challenge. They work together to make practice sustainable, effective, and enjoyable. Most importantly, they counteract our cultureâs obsession with complexity, big results, marathon efforts, and speed.
Each âSâ word addresses a specific way we tend to undermine our own progress. Together, they create an approach that works with human psychology rather than against it.
Break complex goals into simple, manageable components.
When you look at the whole mountain you want to climb, it feels overwhelming. When you look at the single step in front of you, it feels doable. Simplifying isnât about lowering your ambitionsâitâs about breaking them into pieces you can actually work with.
Why we resist simplifying: We want to tackle everything at once. We think working on the whole problem is more efficient than working on pieces of it. Weâre impatient to see complete results.
Why simplifying works: Your mind can only focus on one thing at a time effectively. When you simplify, you eliminate the mental clutter and resistance that comes from feeling overwhelmed. You create clear, actionable targets for practice.
How to simplify:
Example: Learning a piano piece
Work on small sections, not the entire challenge at once.
This is closely related to Simplify but deserves its own focus. Small sections create natural achievability and maintain focus. When you work on something small, you can bring your complete attention to it. When you try to work on something too large, your attention fragments and quality suffers.
Why we resist working small: It feels like slow progress. We want to âget throughâ more. We think big efforts are more impressive or productive.
Why small works: Small creates mastery. You can perfect a small section, which builds skill and confidence. Small sections give you clear wins, which maintains motivation. Small keeps you engaged instead of overwhelmed.
How to work small:
Example: Learning a speech
Practice in short sessions, not marathon efforts.
Attention and quality decline over time. The first 20 minutes of practice are usually far more valuable than the fourth hour. Short, focused sessions maintain high quality and prevent burnout.
Why we resist short sessions: We think more time equals more progress. We feel guilty stopping while we still have energy. We want to âmake up forâ missed practice with marathon sessions.
Why short works: Short sessions maintain freshness and focus. They prevent fatigue, which leads to sloppy practice (which ingrains sloppy habits). Theyâre easier to schedule consistently. Paradoxically, consistent short sessions usually yield better results than sporadic marathon efforts.
How to practice short:
Example: Building a fitness habit
Move slowly and deliberately, prioritizing accuracy over speed.
This might be the most counter-cultural of the four Sâs. Our world glorifies speed. But in skill development, slow is fast. When you practice slowly with full accuracy, youâre programming the correct pattern into your nervous system. When you practice fast with mistakes, youâre programming the mistakes.
Why we resist going slow: It feels like weâre not making progress. Speed feels exciting and productive. Slow feels boring and inefficient.
Why slow works: Slow allows precision. It allows complete attention. It builds the neural pathways correctly the first time, which means you donât have to unlearn bad habits later. Speed comes naturally once the pattern is established correctlyâbut only then.
How to practice slow:
Example: Learning guitar
These principles are even more powerful when combined:
Learning a language:
Building a business:
The Four Sâs create a sustainable, effective approach to any practice. They ensure quality over quantity, depth over breadth, mastery over mere repetition.
Choose something youâre currently learning or working on. Redesign your approach using the Four Sâs:
1. Simplify: Whatâs the single most important element I could focus on? 2. Small: Whatâs the smallest section I could master? 3. Short: Whatâs the shortest practice session that would be valuable? 4. Slow: How much slower could I go to ensure perfect execution?
Apply this redesigned approach for one week and notice how your experience and results change.
Your mind will resist the Four Sâs, especially at first:
âThis is too simpleâI should be working on something harder.â âThis section is too smallâI should cover more.â âThis session is too shortâI should practice longer.â âThis pace is too slowâI should speed up.â
Recognize these as the product-focused mind wanting to âget somewhereâ faster. The practicing mind knows that Simplify, Small, Short, Slow is the fastest path to real mastery, even though it doesnât feel that way to the impatient mind.
Where in your current practice or learning are you violating the Four Sâs? Are you trying to tackle something too complex, too large, for too long, too fast? Whatâs one S you could apply today to improve your practice?
The Four Sâs might seem like tactics for beginners, but they apply at every level of mastery. Concert pianists still simplify complex passages, work on small sections, practice in focused short sessions, and slow down to refine technique. Olympic athletes still break skills into components, work on details, train in structured intervals, and drill movements slowly for precision.
Mastery doesnât graduate beyond these principlesâmastery is built from these principles.