The Road to Mastery

Mastery is not a word we often hear anymore. Has the allure of becoming a master lost its luster? In a world filled with shortening attention spans and always chasing the next big thing, how do we get back to finding extraordinary results driven by pursuits of mastery? The “10,000-hour rule” provides a framework for how we become a master but why are few people participating? I will spend the rest of today discussing perspective changes on how we can view mastery differently, to attempt to find it in our own lives.

Mastery is not a distinct destination. Chasing mastery is not something that happens by accident. It is a deliberate choice to begin the journey to mastery. It is a deliberate choice that is scary because we oftentimes view the “destination,” that mountaintop we are chasing, as a lifetime away. An interesting perspective about pursuing mastery occurs when you stop viewing it as a destination you arrive at, and instead choose to view it as a journey you embark on. When this mental shift occurs, the end goal becomes attainable—one step at a time.

As you go along the journey to mastery, you will receive gifts. The gifts you receive will be based on the time you invested and the effort you gave. The journey to mastery leads to a constant cycle of compounding progress. There is a direct correlation between the time and effort used with the learnings and skill development you will have achieved. Some of the best perspectives with these types of pursuits occur when you reflect on how far you have come. Think back 6 months ago when you first started, what are you now able to do? Think about how you felt 6 months ago and how far away your end destination seemed, how much closer are you now? This reflection can aid your motivation to keep pushing forward. If you have come this far in small periods of time, project that same effort and time over the course of years and imagine where you will be then.

Another interesting idea is there is a fallacy attached to the idea of mastery. Typically, when we think of masters of a craft we believe there is nothing else to learn, no area where improvement can be found—that masters have reached the “destination” of their pursuit. The reality is masters and people pursuing the path to mastery are lifelong learners. They are not on a journey with an end, they are on a never-ending quest to grow and absorb more. More skills, more knowledge, more wisdom, more… The pursuit of more causes that “destination” to continually be surpassed in favor of further destinations as progress is made. Breaking mastery into a journey causes us to more easily reach our initial destinations where we can then reach for more, it is a constant cycle.

Mastery is a long road, a seemingly never-ending road. Mastery is a journey where countless benefits are realized as the hours of work are put in. Bill Gates said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” I want to take his words and pose some questions. What in your life are you doubting you can do? What is holding you back from starting this journey? Where do you want to be 3 months from now and what can you do to reach that mountaintop? The pursuit of mastery can be with anything and the journey begins with a single step. Each step brings you closer to where you want to be and further from where you were.