I've been doing a great deal of reflection around the process of mastery and what it means in my life this week. It all started with a podcast that I was listening to last week while driving around. I've developed the habit of turning one on when I'm in the car, especially if I am alone but even sometimes I subject my kids to them... I can't tell you where I was driving or even the name of the podcast but I distinctly remember some of the statements that were made about mastery.
A good place to start on any journey is a definition. Definitions like comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject were what the internet was giving me. At first that definition felt a little less than inspiring until then I used the great google machine to look up comprehensive. The definition of comprehensive is complete. Then I tried to apply that definition to the mastery of life. Yup, that would be why we focus on the process and not the destination because I honestly don't believe we can ever have complete knowledge or understanding of anything. So here we are on a journey towards an unreachable destination.
Then enter the thoughts from the podcast... They were discussing how everyone says that they want to live a life of mastery and many start out on the journey but few continue down the path. Based on my experience with the I Ho Chuan, that seems to represent what I see time and time again. We all start the year super excited and then many fizzle. This is in a group of people who believe they want mastery so badly that they were willing to sign up to do some pretty crazy requirements and pay money to do them. This is in a group that has tremendous support networks built into it. The podcast described the actual journey of mastery in several very unattractive terms such as boring, tedious, monotonous... Not very attractive for sure but really very accurate.
In a society that is filled with shiny opportunities, it is hard to do the hard work of mastery. The shiny is always ready to pull us away from the hard work mastery requires. The thought of mastery may be shiny which is why many are attracted to the concept BUT it is in the day to day that progress is made. It is in dropping to do those push ups and sit ups. It is in doing the form reps. It is in writing down each and every number. It is in this daily steps that many people get lost and fall off.
So how do we keep on the path? How do we fight the shiny that society throws our way? For me, the most valuable tools have been tracking my numbers and reflecting on my journey both in my personal journal and in my weekly public journal. By no means has my journey been characterized by consistency - currently my numbers are not even close to where they need to be. BUT I keep picking myself back up and putting myself back on the path.
For those of you who are nailing your journey this year - keep up the great work! You inspire us!
For those of you who are struggling right now - reach out, dust yourself off and start again. Pick just one requirement and go do it now (and then record it somewhere). Together we can keep heading in the right direction.
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