Five Minutes a Day, and the World Changes

People love to say, “Practice makes perfect.” Personally, I’ve never found that to be true. Practice doesn’t make perfect - practice makes possible. And when you’re neurospicy, sometimes even five minutes of practice can feel like storming the gates of a Mythic raid. But here’s the thing: five minutes is enough to change the game.

Take my recent foray into World of Warcraft’s Plunderstorm event. For context: I have avoided PvP for two decades like it was a cursed +3 Sword of Stress. I am not good at it, and I have historically preferred to leave the arena to the bloodthirsty. Then Blizzard dangled a shiny temptation: unique mogs, mounts, and pets, available only through this short-term, 100% PvP event. Reader, I wanted those mogs bad enough to consider doing the unthinkable.

My original plan was to zerg it - grind out the currency in a few days. Spoiler: my nervous system had other ideas. After one round, my heart was pounding, my hands were shaking, and I yelled loud enough to terrify the dog. Several rounds left me so stressed I had to walk away. Dying to an NPC mob? Annoying, but manageable. Dying to a player? My brain labeled it as personal - a direct attack on me. Cue the adrenaline flood and a full-blown stress response.

So I sat myself down for a little guild meeting with the Inner Committee. We analyzed the wipe. The truth? PvP isn’t personal. Yes, other players are intentional in a way NPCs aren’t, but in PvP, the winning strat is simple: be an equal-opportunity asshole to everything that moves. It’s just what you do. That realization didn’t magically fix me, but it gave me traction. I made a deal: one round a day, no excuses. Just five minutes. Before, during, and after, I’d use every self-soothing tool in my kit - breathwork, muscle relaxation, and a steady mantra: This is not personal.

The first week was brutal. By mid-match, my teeth were clenched hard enough to break pencils, and I’d pace afterward to shake the tension out. Week two was better. By week three, my nervous system had caught up with my intentions. I could play multiple rounds before needing a break. I still don’t love PvP - but I’m not afraid of it anymore.

And that’s the real win: not the mogs, but the rewiring. Because here’s the secret: you don’t need hours of practice. You just need consistent, tiny sessions. Five minutes a day was enough to retrain my brain, rewrite my internal script, and take a skill that once left me panicked and put it under conscious guidance.

So if there’s something you want to learn - or unlearn - don’t wait until you have the time, energy, or courage to grind it all out. Start with five minutes. Because five minutes a day doesn’t just add up - it multiplies.