The Path to Mastery

Let’s start with something simple.  Try touching the top of your head.  That was easy enough right? Nothing to it.

There was a time when that simple action to take a lot effort to accomplish.  Yet, somehow we obtained mastery over this skill.  We’ve attained mastery over many other skills as well such as walking, talking, eating, and sleeping.

The mastery of most of these skills started shortly after we were born into the world.  Yes, we had to grow and learn; human beings as species are primed for learning.

We aren’t capable of doing much at first, but we can absorb from our surrounding like a sponge to water.  Other mammals such as a baby horse, otherwise known as a foal, is able to run and walk at birth.  A feat that a human baby isn’t capable of at birth.

The Path to Mastery Is Always There…

I have gained mastery over many other skills and I’ve only begun in others.  In my quest to continue to understand how to acquire new skills I started reading more books.  I finished reading: Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment.

This book was an absolute joy to read and it brought so interesting perspectives about mastery that I hadn’t considered.  George describes Mastery as journey it’s not a goal or destination.  It is a process and a way of life.  The most important part of the journey toward mastery is to get started.  Even, if only by taking baby steps.

Early on in the book, George describes 3 personas: the Dabbler, the Obsessive, and the Hacker.  These three personas we assume as part of our identity when things don’t go our way in our path to mastery.

the Dabbler

Gets really excited about a topic, they plateau and then they seek the rush of the initial progress that was made in another form.  Never pushing plateaus they encounter only seeking new beginnings.

the Obsessive

They focus on the end result, the goal, the bottom line.  The Obsessive are seeking to make things right the first time out and will grind to do so.  They tend to hit the plateau and grind harder to push themselves to the next level, often burning themselves out.

the Hacker

Attains a skill, but never pursues the grind to push themselves to another level.  They love the plateau and they are okay with the status quo.

I personally, identify most with the Dabbler, but I see avenues of my life where I identify with the other two personas as well.  Which one of those personas do you adopt when you fall off your path to mastery?

The path to mastery requires diligence, patience and persistence… all of which can be cultivated.  I personally have set goals in my life and I get so obsessed with the outcome that it takes me out of the present moment and I no longer take action.  That is not the path to mastery.

The goal itself is not bad, it’s how we work toward our goal that counts.  We can’t simply hope that we stumble upon the accomplishment of our goals.  We must instead take deliberate action toward attaining these goals.

Over the next few weeks, I will be breaking down some of the nuggets of wisdom George discusses in his book.  If you’ve enjoyed this post, please do me a favor, share it and sign up to be notified of future posts.