MASTERY

 I started reading a book called "Mastery, The Keys to success and Long-Term Fulfillment", written by George Leonard. If you know me, you know I have a hard time reading books and usually fall asleep a couple pages in...waking up with the book on my chest, not remembering a single word. So, I was happy to find the audiobook, which I could listen to and read at the same time (win, win)! This book has been very enlightening and full of eye opening moments. 

It starts off by talking about a society looking for a quick fix, fast, temporary relief that ultimately doesn't work in the long run, and is eventually destructive. Sounds like a good book (LOL).

He points out that if there is any sure route to success and fulfillment in life, it is to be found in the long-term, essentially goal-less process of mastery.

Ok. So, long-endurance, and suffering. What is that saying that Christ said..."He never said it would be easy, he only said it would be worth it." (Just a thought that comes to mind).

As I continue reading, he explains the process of Mastery. As we start something new, it is difficult. We work at it and get to a point where we want to give-up. As we push through, we have a moment that something inside of us clicks, and we feel empowered! We have a sense of accomplishment and want more. Then reality kicks in and we are told...it takes years of practice to master what we have started. 

Along the way, we have many plateaus and spend most of the time on these plateaus. He talks about practicing diligently, striving to hone your skills, to attain new levels of competence.

I found it eye opening that there was an actual cycle to master anything in life. But the kicker was in chapter 2, taking about the dabbler, the obsessive, and the hacker mentality. The dabbler, the one that starts everything full of enthusiasm, and when it starts getting challenging....moves onto the next thing. Oh, how we love the dabblers enthusiasm...if only they were reliable and push through, they could have that accomplishment. Then next is the obsessive. These are the people that push hard because they are expecting a great reward for all their effort. The only down side is nothing happens the way we expect it to. The last is the hacker, the ones that scoot by and find the easy ways through. They just don't ever grow, and stay the same.

In chapter 3, he goes into the American culture view on Mastery...or more on how there is a war against mastery. From his perspective, our generation is all about instant gratification, full of climax after climax, high after high. Gone is talk of balanced, long-term growth. We live in a society that has a failure to deal with the deficit, goes along with easy credit and the continuing encouragement of individual consumption at the expense of saving and long-term gain.

Ouch.....reality check. Mastery takes work and effort, but yet we are not being taught this? 

In chapter 4, Embrace the plateau, he talks about finding joy in the regular routines of our lives. The rituals of the everyday.

 For me, I find the joy of this assignment in reading, thinking out what I learned, and hitting the keyboard to record my thoughts a very rewarding ritual of homework. Somedays, I would rather go to bed early, or watch Netflix for an hour. But when I complete an assignment, and hit the send button, I get a huge burst of energy because I accomplished something hard. I started this journey in 2020, and today I am still at it. Practicing diligently, living on plateaus, and moving closer to mastery everyday. Im enjoying the process, even through the pain because I know one day, it will be worth it.