Mastery Of Things

What does it mean to become a master at something? If there are levels of mastery, then even a master has to feel the need for further improvement. Do they know they are a master, at least at some level? Here is where we shift our minds.

To master a skill, one has to find something within to reach that level. I'll go as far as saying that the only thing we ever need to master is ourselves. Even a master needs to practice daily to maintain their skill, and they will get even better. Mastery is a never-ending succession of small improvements over time. Going from novice to master already sounds like a lot of work. However, when we break it down and grow 1% every time, the improvement becomes exponential rather than linear. When we learn a new skill this way, we should experience an increasingly greater reward to motivate us along the way up. How long it takes to learn a new skill will depend on the individual and the level of desired proficiency. The Systems approach works well by taking the learning components apart and simultaneously improving on the individual parts. This way, we can quickly scale up even if one day we fail one thing, there are still others to keep us motivated and continue to improve.

Mastery can be an illusion of proficiency. We are all masters as long we keep up our daily practice. If you don't feel masterful today, realize that you are the sum of your ancestors. You're the result of millennia of generations before you that have evolved and improved over millions of years. Keep that in your mind to motivate you today.