stenomatt

[stenomatt]

Belief: The Essential Ingredient

“Working hard is important but there is something that matters even more; believing in yourself.” - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

“What do you actually believe? Do you believe you can do this?” With this pair of inquiries, Lisa Knight called the essential question I was afraid to ask myself. At the core of my being I didn’t truly believe that I could, despite six years of court reporting education at three different schools. I was still riddled with fear and anxiety about the testing process, dreading my forthcoming ninth attempt at the RPR Testimony, having passed the Jury Charge six months earlier and the Literary nearly a year and a half earlier.

In my heart of hearts I not only lacked faith that I could write fast and accurately enough to pass the Testimony, but I also actively believed I wasn’t worthy of this career I’d been dreaming about. In tracing the doubts back to their roots, I found them to be out of step with my current reality. The truth was I could write faster than I even realized I could; my stenography training had been turbo-charged by some of the best in the business; and I had been in the room with working court reporters, lawyers, and judges and had earned their trust and respect. It was time to grant myself the same level of faith.

I detailed some of the ways I overcame my limiting beliefs in one of the first posts on this blog. What I learned later is that these notions are hallmarks of the fixed mindset; the idea that skill and talent are inborn traits distributed unevenly at birth, that some people were just more gifted than others, and my steno capabilities were at their peak. 

The antidote to a fixed mindset is a growth mindset; the belief that we can improve at any skill, no matter how little aptitude or talent we may think we possess for it. Turns out, many of the repetitive doubts that plagued my inner mental landscape were flowing from a fixed mindset. Becoming aware of this was the first step in transforming these damaging concepts into helpful ones. 

This realization remolded my approach to practice and testing. They became imperatives and opportunities instead of mind-numbing labor or harrowing appointments. Incorporating new techniques to enhance my accuracy started to feel like finding an amulet en route to the showdown with the dragon of self-doubt. Believing I can improve has inspired me to do what’s necessary to become a better writer. That will happen for you as well when you search inside, examine your beliefs, and shift from doubt to faith in your capacity to grow.

#steno #skills #concentration #testing #confidence

[stenomatt]

Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.

Elbert Hubbard

[stenomatt]

Habits begin as offhanded remarks, ideas, and images. And then, layer upon layer, through practice, they grow from cobwebs into cables that shackle or strengthen our lives.

Denis Waitley

[stenomatt]

The Three Rules of Deep Practice: Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

#talentcode

[stenomatt]

Do not tolerate for a minute the idea that you are prohibited from any achievement by the absence of inborn talent or ability. This is a lie of the grandest order, an excuse of the saddest kind.

Maxwell Maltz

[stenomatt]

I shall become a master in this art only after a great deal of practice.

Erich Fromm

[stenomatt]

If you correct your mind, the rest of your life will fall into place.

Lao Tzu

#motivation mindset

[stenomatt]

Phoenix to Magnum: My Journey

Here are a few tips and tricks I picked up while retooling my writing style with Magnum Steno. The first is to look at it through that framework; it's a power-up, not a wholesale "change." I'd note that quick changes are not deep changes. 

Much of what I'll share here had to be drilled relentlessly before it became my new instinct and caused hesitation until it was drilled out. Additionally, I'd point out most of my multi-stroke game is still Phoenix-based, though I have found areas where four and five strokes can be whittled down to two, and the version of Phoenix you learned may have introduced some of these concepts as it underwent some retooling of its own since I learned it in 2010.

One piece of advice Mark gave me early on was not to try and change my "and" (SKW-) to his "and" (SKP-), this would be a slight change with only mild impact in the overall retool. Far better to filter Mark's briefs dictionary for phrases that start with the word "and" and modify the entries to utilize SKW-. As you go through this process you'll be able to spot areas like this where change is an option but won't yield much efficiency versus the time it'll take to reinforce the new instinct.

That caveat aside, there are a few routes you can take in your shortening journey. One place to start is to follow the instructions in the Magnum Steno Club Instructional Videos folder entitled "Really Great Way to Shorten Writing." Mark explains the process of mining your personal dictionary for your most common multi-strokers by ordering the dictionary in descending order of most translated words and picking out the first several high frequency two-stroke words from the list to convert to one stroke. This yields a personalized list of areas to attack that will have high impact immediately.

For a deeper makeover related to Phoenix specifically, there are some theory principle changes to consider. These are very worth working out because they allow for inflections across a wide swath of the English language, opening up a realm of accuracy and precision that accords with principles and thus aren't "briefs." If you still have your Fast Track Drills book, you'll want to work on these drills: 

4 (-V sound changes from -FB to *F)

16 (use -S for "-SS" words, so you can pluralize with -SZ)

17 (-SH changes from -GS to -RB, opening up easy inflections)

19 (-TH changes from -GT to *T, also opening up inflections)

57 (-TH reinforcement)67 (-SH reinforcement)

70 (-MP changes from -FPL to -FRP)^

71 (-SK, on stroke Magnum principle -FBG)

79 (-RTH endings different with *T for -TH)

80 (-RCH ending changes to -FRPB from -FRP)^

81 (-NCH ending changes to -FRPBLG from -FRPB)^

82 (-PTH, -LTH, -NTH, -NGTH endings all different with *T)

84 (-SHUN changes from -GZ to -GS, -KSHUN stays -BGZ)^

85 (-SHAL changes from -LGS to -RBL, -SHUS from -GS/-S to -RBS)

86 (-VER stroking option becomes *FR)

87 (-VEN stroking option becomes *FPB)

88 (-FL/-VL reinforcement of *F for -V sound & expansion)

90 (-BL words with -BL)

91 (ex- changes from EBGS to KP-)

103 (-SH reinforcement)

105 (-SHUN reinforcement)

^ Denotes principles where I've retained the original Phoenix concepts in my dictionary where possible, allowing myself some leeway if I hear something and write it the way I used to.

Following those reforms to our basic theory principles, we're ready to build in further Magnum Steno principles. Feel free to utilize the drills I've shared online for theory concepts that were new to me in Magnum Steno at https://soundcloud.com/mattheweloss-10/sets/ms-theory-concepts

At this point (or any point prior) it'll probably be helpful to start going chapter by chapter in the book and picking up briefs and word pairs. Don't fret if these conflict with Phoenix word parts as you can make a change in the standalone stroke oftentimes while retaining the Phoenix principle in its multi-stroke function. The Magnum brief concepts tend to stack up on one another later on with further efficiency gains, so they're pretty beneficial changes. And be mindful of Mark's Write-It-Out words, as you might be able to locate spots where you can turn four strokes into two, which can be as helpful as whittling these higher frequency words down to one stroke with the aforementioned principles.

Then there's the joy of conquering the Right Hand Phrase Enders. This actually may be a preferable starting point for the working reporter as these concepts open up worlds of efficiency and have few or no counterparts in Phoenix. Your familiarity with these ideas will depend on how heavily phrasing was emphasized in your original theory courses. Some will look similar (-FPL for ~them, *PBG for ~think, etc.) Here you may have to slay an old idea some of us were convinced of, and that is the notion that every phrase must have an asterisk in its outline. On the other side of conquering this beast lies even further versatility and short writing power.

Again, I'll refer you to the drills I used to incorporate these ideas into my writing. Notice they're succinct, moderately paced ("gettable") alternations between disparate concepts: https://soundcloud.com/matthew-moss-10/sets/rhpes  You might consider becoming your own drill master. A large part of what helped me succeed in this endeavor was the process of uncovering areas that felt unnatural or challenging, creating a drill for them, and then writing that drill until I couldn't make a mistake. I usually had to get to that point before I'd really hear the concepts and deploy the new strokes at high speed. Dictate drills for your problem spots into your phone.

Another point of entry, or further mastery, would be to spend a large chunk of time with the "families" later on in the book. Studying a group of briefs and phrases organized around the domains of Jury Charge, Political, Auto Accident, Law Enforcement, Medical, and Science Terminology provide concrete anchors for us to associate clusters of new neuronal pathways around with our arsenal of short writing techniques. 

And, of course, there's a multitude of further information in the Magnum Steno Club, the Olympic weight-lifting room of stenography. Our CAT software is an essential ally in this odyssey. For my conversion at Mark's online program and through most of my reporting career I've used at least two dictionaries. Mark helped me understand that if I rename my Phoenix dictionary something other than Personal Dictionary, and renamed his briefs dictionary “Personal Dictionary,” I could load them both in my translation settings, with the Phoenix dictionary prioritized above the Magnum briefs (Personal Dictionary). 

This is a little in the weeds, but it's an option that's available for the extreme makeover. This allowed me to open up entire concepts simply by learning them and rooting out and resolving conflicts as I went along. It also allowed me to always be able to examine the way Mark might handle a word or phrase. Early on I kept a "changes" diary in case I decided this path was a mistake and wanted to go back, and of course, I backed up all of my system files and my personal dictionary in several places before even attempting this. If this approach is too radical or extreme, just filter and copy new concepts from the Magnum briefs dictionary into your dictionary as you incorporate them.

Recently I merged the dictionaries. It's not all Mark and Phoenix either. I've developed a distinctly Matt Moss style as I've picked up concepts I like from Facebook groups and seminars (shoutout to Ed’s Steno Pro) and my colleagues in the courthouse where I currently work. This dictionary contains 270,000+ entries, and it's growing every day. Part of what I came to understand through this process is that I am the author of my writing style, and that style will continue to grow and evolve as long as I do. Mark and many others have pointed me in amazing directions and shown me things that have made me a much stronger writer than I ever imagined I would be.  

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help you resolve any conflicts or pitfalls you encounter along the way.

#steno #transformation #mastery #theory #practice

[stenomatt]

Always nice to get a shout out from the World Record holder!

#stenography #steno

[stenomatt]

Powerful Podcasts

Confessions of a Stenographer

Legal Tech Tips with Eve

Lady Steno Podcast

Learner Lab

Gadget Lab

#podcasts #learning #growth #mindset

[stenomatt]

The successful person has the habit of doing things failures don't like to do. They don't like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.

Albert E. N. Gray

#purpose #success #7habitsofhighlyeffectivepeople

[stenomatt]

Each day has its own purpose and fits into the great plan of our lives. This very moment carries traces of our life purpose in places where we focus our attention, in words or ideas that bring a tingle of excitement and hope in our heart."

Carol Adrienne

#purpose #7habitsofhighlyeffectivepeople

[stenomatt]

About Time

Many of us now have more time on our hands than we could’ve ever demanded. It’s simultaneously a blessing and a curse, as I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s still not doing things I swore I’d do “if I just had more time.” 

A few years ago I read Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and it moved mountains in my mind. Lately I’ve been revisiting a portion that’s helped me clarify a principle-driven approach to time management. First Things First, or Habit 3, introduces a time management concept that I think can help anyone in any field and can certainly be of assistance to steno students and my fellow reporters who may, like me, currently find themselves with an overabundance of time. 

This framework is broken down as a matrix of urgent/non-urgent and important/non-important tasks. 

Let’s add some court reporting specific tasks to Q1: Court or deposition appearances, some transcript production, expedited requests, some academic coursework. (Learning Zoom or WebEx if you’ve somehow managed not to still.)

Q2: Practice, taking certification tests, transcript backlog management (scoping/proofing/editing/delegating), dictionary building, incorporating short writing techniques, software knowledge, continuing education, networking, keeping up with industry developments, reading, service on state and national court reporting boards and committees. 

There’s bound to be as many variations on this list as there are court reporters and students, and if you’re not sure what to put in which quadrant, I’d recommend picking up the book. Habits 1 & 2 really help to clarify the mission and purpose from which goals and tasks flow.

Serious contemplation of this matrix reveals that Quadrant II is where we want to spend as much time as possible. Doing so makes Quadrant I more manageable and levels up our productivity and earning power. “If your priorities grow out of a principle center and a personal mission, if they are deeply planted in your heart and in your mind, you will see Quadrant II as a natural, exciting place to invest your time.” - Covey, 7 Habits, p. 158

This approach required, for me, a paradigm shift. For a long time I stayed mostly in Quadrants I and III, thinking I was making progress when I was just spinning my wheels. Covey tells us that early on our time for Quadrant II must come out of III and IV. Everyone has crises and unforeseen circumstances that pop up into Quadrant I, and Quadrant III will continually entice us into its eternal attention drain if we let it. 

This doesn’t mean we withdraw from the world and forego all entertainment and relaxation either. I’ve had attorneys reference Game of Thrones and Star Wars characters on the record, and I’m sure we’ll all need more than a few Tiger King entries soon. Keeping up with the culture is part of our job.

But when we have our priorities clear and our goals drive them, we can ask ourselves whether what we’re doing right now serves our ultimate purpose. And that question can re-focus us and renew our energy in a way that simply “wanting to get better” won’t do. 

#time management #7habitsofhighlyeffectivepeople #stenographer #court reporter

[stenomatt]

Practice: The Path to Mastery

“In our daily, conscious activity we generally experience a separation between the mind and the body. We think about our bodies and our physical actions. Animals do not experience this division. When we start to learn any skill that has a physical component, this separation becomes even more apparent. We have to think about the various actions involved, the steps we have to follow. We are aware of our slowness and of how our bodies respond in an awkward way. At certain points, as we improve, we have glimpses of how this process could function differently, of how it might feel to practice the skill fluidly, with the mind not getting in the way of the body. With such glimpses, we know what to aim for. If we take our practice far enough the skill becomes automatic, and we have the sensation that the mind and the body are operating as one. 

If we are learning a complex skill, such as flying a jet in combat, we must master a series of simple skills, one on top of the other. Each time one skill becomes automatic, the mind is freed up to focus on the higher one. At the very end of this process, when there are no more simple skills to learn, the brain has assimilated an incredible amount of information, all of which has become internalized, part of our nervous system. The whole complex skill is now inside us and at our fingertips. We are thinking, but in a different way-- with the body and mind completely fused. We are transformed. We possess a form of intelligence that allows us to approximate the instinctual power of animals, but only through a conscious, deliberate, and extended practice.

In our culture we tend to denigrate practice. We want to imagine that great feats occur naturally-- that they are a sign of someone’s genius or superior talent. Getting to a high level of achievement through practice seems so banal, so uninspiring. Besides, we don’t want to have to think of the 10,000 to 20,000 hours that go into such mastery. These values of ours are oddly counterproductive-- they cloak us from the fact that almost anyone can reach such heights through tenacious effort, something that should encourage us all. It is time to reverse this prejudice against conscious effort and to see the powers we gain through practice and discipline as eminently inspiring and even miraculous. The ability to master complicated skills by building connections in the brain is the product of millions of years of evolution, and the source of all our material and cultural power. It is the natural bent of our brain to want to move in this direction, to elevate its powers through repetition. To lose our connection to this natural inclination is the height of madness, and will lead to a world in which no one has the patience to master complex skills. As individuals we must resist such a trend, and venerate the transformative powers we gain through practice.”

-Robert Greene, Mastery, p. 288

#Stenography #practice #mastery

[stenomatt]

Denver’s calling! Our team of reporters is growing with the appointment of two new judges in District Court this month. Excellent perks include working on brand new state-issued laptops, live scoping capabilities with Stenograph’s Realteam feature, incentives for higher level certifications, software training, in-house mentoring, “nerd” lunches, food trucks, most days ending by 5, and much more. More details and start your application at https://www.its.courts.state.co.us/mosaic/careerApplyNow?positionNumber=6878 (at Downtown Denver) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7RLHohJJKI/?igshid=1woz87t1qwqpw

[stenomatt]

I have always maintained that excepting fools, men did not differ much in intellect, only in zeal and hard work.

Charles Darwin

#quotes #motivation #talentcode

[stenomatt]

Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett

#skill #talentcode #motivatoin