How to know if you're approaching mastery...

I was talking with Adam Baker, MSL this morning. He had asked me about my favorite books, and I dropped two on him. DRIVE by Dan Pink came to mind, as well as PEAK: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Ericsson and Pool. Both are loosely around the idea of motivation, particularly the motivation to excel, to develop expertise or mastery.

As we chatted about some of the books' examples of people who were so focused that they became experts in their field (girls who became chess masters, a man who turned golfer in his 30s and within two years was on the tour) it reminded me of another golfer I saw on T.V. just a few weeks ago. The guy was hitting from an awkward situation where his ball was on the grass at the top of the bunker, but the only way to address the ball was to stand in the sand trap itself, with his feet two feet lower than they ought to be. The commentator said, "You can't practice for this shot. Nobody would practice this."

I told Adam, "I think the way you know you're approaching mastery is that you're able to handle situations for which you cannot practice." Adam replied with a comment that went something like, "Yes, the thing is, that golfer knows the angles. Even though they're different, he can still figure it out, as he's there standing on the edge."

This is why we practice and hone our skills -- experience plus feedback -- because at some point you're going to stand on the edge of what's possible. And even though you've never seen things from that particular angle before, you're going to know what to do, because you may not know that angle, but you know angles.

Mastery isn't just about knowing what to do in your common, everyday situations. That's where the novices and intermediately-skilled can do the job just fine. Mastery is about being so well-versed in what you do, that you know what to do even in situations you've never seen before.

#drive #peakperformance #mastery

I've written books. Some good, some masterful. Some fiction for fun, some nonfiction for business, some poetry for laughter and for your soul. Coming soon: Old Roads, New Friends. Check my books out here .