Mastery is a lofty goal, but totally achievable.
Assuming several things are understood and applied on the path towards it — there’s no reason to doubt you can join the ranks of the highly skilled in your given endeavor.
Before we get in to the “how to” of developing mastery, let’s define it.
The Oxford Dictionaries defines Mastery this way, “mastery – comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject or activity, control or superiority over someone or something.”
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way, “a : possession or display of great skill or technique. b : skill or knowledge that makes one master of a subject.”
Now that we understand what it is, let’s dig into the nitty gritty of how we can attain mastery over the areas of our life where we want to experience greater excellence.
Six Things You Must Understand to Attain Mastery in Life
1) Get clear on the areas in your life where you’re feeling out of control. Identify the parts of your life, personally, and or professionally where you want to see improvement. In particular, the areas where you want to be wiser, and more skilled. Seeing improvement isn’t just something that magically happens. The cold truth is that it’s totally possible to float through life always reacting to whatever comes your way, as opposed to being an active participant in creating a more fulfilling, richer life. Make no mistake, if you’ll choose to live your life with more intentionality you will start seeing more of the great rewards which life has to offer flow to you.
2) Clearly define, name, and write down what you want to gain expertise in. This is closely related to the above step, but it’s worth repeating. You really need to dig in deep and get clear on what you want. If you want to gain financial peace, and greater control over your finances, saying you want more money simply isn’t enough. You have to get much clearer on what real steps you’re going to take to see the change you are after. You’re also going to need to realize that contrary to what a lot of people try to tell us, more money, in many cases isn’t the key. Ask any lottery winner, many of the high profile sports stars, or the countless others who came into a windfall of money, yet, because they lacked a deeper understanding of finances, and how to actually create, and keep what was given to them — over time found themselves broke and in many cases worse off than they were before they had gained their short lived treasure.
In summary, you want to seek out the best books, read the best articles, listen to podcasts, follow and learn from those who are doing the things in the areas you want to improve in. Identify, and begin taking courses and classes which will give you the skills necessary to excel in the areas you want to.
Friend, the days of making excuses for gaining greater knowledge in virtually any area is over. Yes, I said it, if you are willing to do the work, do the study, and remain committed, then the resources are out there, many freely available. Pick any subject and put the word “free” in the search box and you will find an open door into that world. It will take work, perseverance, and stick-to-it-ness but that’s a small price to pay for the incredible dividends you will experience from paying your dues in this way.
3) Pay attention to your peer groups. The people you surround yourself with makes a difference in what you can hope to aspire to. There’s an often quoted saying I love, that says, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.” I’ve heard it said by so many different people that I wouldn’t have a clue who to actually attribute it to.
If you’re honest with yourself, and really reflect on your life, you have to admit it’s true don’t you? That said, I think we really have to be careful not to buy into the wrong belief that our past need dictate our future. Maybe you were born into an area, or family where you lacked any sort of positive role model. That may well be true, but there are always opportunities to seek more positive people in your life. Doing so requires you making the choice to do so, and in some instances the necessary sacrifice to do so, but it can always be done. Look, if you have access to the internet, a library, or a church then you can change your peer group in a positive way. Don’t believe me? Allow me to run you through a few exercises that may change your outlook a bit.
Let’s say you want to get around other people who are already succeeding in their professional careers. Do a simple search for “business peer groups” and see the endless options that show up in the search results. You can literally apply this same strategy to whatever areas you need positive life giving people in to help you reach your full potential. This is true regardless of age I might add. Organizations such as The Boys Club, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, just to name a few make it possible for children, young adults and teens who might otherwise not have positive role models and influencers in their life to experience the great benefits that come as a result.
Friend, there is always a reason to think things are against us, if that’s the place from which we want to live our lives. It’s also true that there is always another path, one which leads to fulfillment for the person that simply will not accept that they are stuck in circumstances beyond their control. There is incredible power which comes from leaving our own personal victimhood behind, and deciding to live in all that is ours if we are willing to believe for it.
4) Be open and authentic in where you are right now. Realize that you aren’t going to start out as an expert. Be fine with that. Everyday show up and work towards the thing you want to see unfold in your life. Take pleasure in the realization that as time passes, so long as you keep at it, you will learn and grow more proficient in your chosen craft.
5) Develop and hold a vision of what mastery looks like to you. Shallow goals are a real problem. Here is an example of a shallow goal: I want to own a red convertible sports car. Understand that when I call it shallow, I’m not saying that because it isn’t important. It may very well be important to you. If so, awesome, knock yourself out. I’m calling it shallow because it lacks a meaningful story behind why you believe putting forth all the effort necessary to excel in acquiring it, and all the pursuit needed of you is worth it to see it through. You need a strong why, because that is what will propel you forward during the times where you feel you want to quit, or get sidetracked.
We all experience times where we want to give up, but it’s the ability to stick to a thing, and course correct as necessary which ultimately gets us to the pinnacle of accomplishment. Getting where you want to go requires identifying what you want, having a clear vision of what success looks like in that area, detailing the day to day steps you need to take, and taking real action in its direction. You need to know going in that It’s going to take your commitment to see it through. Your why is what will keep you moving towards your pursuit even when you feel the urge to stop short of your intended destination.
6) Learn with the thought in mind that you will teach and share what you learn with others. I don’t know about you, but I put a little more effort into learning something when I know I may be called to teach on it at a later date. I bet you do the same. Think back to years past where you had to write a paper for a class. Or delivered some type of report for the company you work for. Didn’t you give a lot more thought to the topic at hand then you might otherwise have? Sure you did.
I’ll concede I’m in a little different position than most when it comes to the idea of teaching others what I learn — not everyone has the platform I do with my writing, but regardless of that everyone still has someone, either at work, or in their day to day interactions that they can share with. I’m not suggesting you write full blown research papers, or create a lengthy presentation. It can be something as simple as sharing via Twitter or Facebook, or even with your colleagues around the water cooler. The main point is if you think you’ll be sharing what you learn you will be much more likely to engage in deeper learning than you might otherwise. In my own life I will often take notes in my journal, and many of those notes make their way into the articles I’ve written and shared over the years.
I really want to encourage you to find opportunities throughout your day to put the ideas above to work for you. In doing so, I think you will benefit greatly. It won’t happen overnight, the truly worthwhile things of life rarely do, but if you will apply the ideas above, you too will join the ranks of those experts others seek out and want to surround themselves with.
It’s a fact that greater opportunities and rewards find there way to those who have expertise in their industry, and or profession. Mastery is a worthwhile endeavor. Enjoy the journey!
It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG,
Josh Hinds
* If you enjoyed this article, and I hope you did, please consider supporting the work I do by getting a copy of either my book, It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG, or my motivational audio program — Learn more about them here.