MOVING TOWARD MASTERY IN THE YEAR AHEAD
A new year can bring new themes into our work and lives, plus new reflection or coaching questions to explore! I decided a couple of years ago to start working with themes in both my personal and professional lives. Sometimes these themes are prompted by the external – by prompts found in a journal for example. Or sometimes they manifest internally – meaning they are on my mind or heart. As such, I’ve chosen 12 themes to inspire my content this year so let’s begin with mastery.
Mastery – What Is It?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, mastery is “comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject or activity." Synonyms include proficiency, ability, capability, knowledge, understanding, comprehension and familiarity. When we’ve mastered something, we have essentially taken command of it. When I teach on this topic, I like to explain it as having a skill available on demand. Much like shows and movies are available to us immediately on demand, we can have skills and abilities that are also readily available to us at a moment’s notice.
With that definition in hand, you might be wondering … what does it take?
10,000-Hour Rule
In his book, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” author Malcolm Gladwell introduced the "10,000-Hour Rule." He wanted to write about what makes people incredibly proficient in their area of focus and he went on to declare that it was 10,000 hours of practice that resulted in this “tipping point of greatness.” He formed his own interpretation and writing from research originally done by psychologist Anders Ericsson, however it’s now thought to be misguided. As with most things in life, not everyone agrees with this perspective and some important takeaways (like the quality of the practice and 10,000 hours being an average) weren’t factored into Gladwell’s books. Additionally, many wonder why some put in the 10,000 hours of practice and still don’t reach mastery.
If you think back on your youth, was there an art or sport (or something else) you immersed yourself in? For me, it was dance – ballet in particular. If you were to ask if me if I have mastery in certain dance skills, I’d say “yes” to some and “no” to others. For example, if you asked me to stand up and improvise – just dance with no warning – no problem. If you asked me to perform 32 fouetté turns perfectly, that’s an entirely different ask. I might be able to get through it, but it wouldn’t be pretty.
Then, we have someone like Tim Ferriss who focuses on accelerated learning or “rapid skill acquisition” to illustrate just how quickly something can be accomplished or achieved. Ferriss’ stance is that we can become “world class” in any skill within six months. Fun fact: Ferriss focuses on meta-learning – or learning about learning. He’s a fascinating person to follow and I highly recommend his book “Tools of Titans.”
Long story short, we have multiple “experts” on the planet with polarizing views on how to reach mastery.
100-Hour Rule
Even I find myself scrolling through social media on occasion, and stumbled upon talking points related to the 100-Hour Rule. This coaching declared that by spending 100 hours in a year (roughly 18 minutes per day) on any discipline, you’ll be better than 95% of the world at it.
I can see how 100 hours would be far more enticing and empowering that 10,000 – especially in my industry where we are looking to activate and motivate others, not add to their existing obstacles and overwhelm.
The 100-hour approach really prioritizes micro-skills (smaller, valuable components that boost overall performance), fast results and accessibility. Again, all do-able and desirable elements for the adult that is working full-time and potentially juggling many other demands.
Bottom line? Consistency is everything. The 100-Hour Rule is essentially concentrated consistency based on the idea of deliberate (high-quality, focused) practice that allows people to move the needle and accumulate success day-over-day.
Mastery as a Value
A value is something we (or an entity) holds as most important and is ideally used to inform decision making. I chose mastery as a value for Wellness Collective many moons ago because I believe a commitment to learning and acquiring new knowledge and abilities is integral to any industry. This holds especially true in health and well-being where new discoveries are constant. It’s important that our team and clients are aware of this commitment as it speaks to how seriously we take our work.
Mastery as Inspiration
I also see mastery-related questions as a means of inspiration. If interested in exploring mastery, I suggest the following reflection (or coaching) questions:
What do you want to learn and become incredibly knowledgeable about over the next 12 months?
What skill(s) or abilities would you like to have readily available?
How could you get started?
Speaking of Getting Started …
My encouragement is very simple. Start at any age, any level, any time.
All too often, we talk ourselves out of doing something that interests us (for a variety of reasons): “It’s too late. It’s too expensive. I don’t know where to start. I could never do that. I won’t be any good at it.” The list goes on and on …
When you hear that happening, I recommend pushing pause on that self-talk. Much like the “easy button” you see in commercials, picture a pause button for that busy brain and the negative committee talking you out of living life.
One of my favorite quotes is, “Be brave enough to suck at something new,” by author Jon Acuff. Maybe a more PG-version would be “Be brave enough to be a beginner.”
Why Mastery Matters
I can think of five reasons why tackling mastery in something makes good sense:
A sense of accomplishment: It feels good to set sights on something and ultimately finish what we set out to do. This is therefore an internal, personal experience.
A recognition of achievement: Achievements are often associated with processes that result in major milestones and are more of a stretch goal. These are often externally validated.
A boost in confidence: The more high-quality practice we get, the more we start to believe in ourselves. It’s a powerful perspective shift that says, “If I did it once, certainly I can do it again.”
A new vocation: When we become experts or accomplished in something, it can reveal new ways to make income and change or supplement careers.
New acts of service: We may also choose to use our expertise to give back to the greater good in volunteer capacities or acts of kindness.
If any portion of this blog is interesting to you, just know there’s no pressure to pour 100 or 10,000 hours into anything. My encouragement is this: adopt a love of learning, begin or stay the course and trust that investing in yourself and your abilities is always a good idea.
Cheers, my dears!
Sources: MUO, This vs. That
Author: Katy Tombaugh