Mastering Yourself vs. Managing Yourself
Wow!
It has been a while since my last article, no excuses, I just didn't make the time to write like I wanted.
This mini hiatus had me thinking about discipline and doing things I know I should do/want to do but don't, come on I know I'm not the only one!
There was a quote mentioned in the book Mastery by Robert Green (highly recommend this book):
"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. "
Leonardo da Vinci"
All morning I couldn't shake this quote, so I leaned in and realized that I have so many ambitions and unless I master myself (another way of saying discipline) I don't foresee making those ambitions a reality.
I'm sure plenty of you reading this will have a similar self-discussion. So here is the answer to why I believe this matters.
A lot of times we think we are mastering ourselves and getting into the "I'm on my grind" mood (you know what I'm talking about LOL), but really what we are doing is managing ourselves.
In other words, we are just putting pause on our destructive habits (procrastination, unhealthy over-eating, time-wasting, etc...)
So what are some suggestions on how we master ourselves?
- Stop Blaming/Take Responsibility
- Don't be the victim. Regardless of your upbringing, economic status, race, gender, etc.... If you are breathing you can do something about it. I know this sounds all "Utopian" but for real, you can change your perspective in an instant.
2. Know Yourself
- Knowing who you are is the most powerful super power you can have. One easy way to get to know yourself is to sit in a quite space, listen to the "inner voice" and have a dialogue. This way you will begin to notice the difference between the "voice" protecting you vs. the "voice" making you lazy
3. Condition Your Mind for HARD WORK
- I have never met any person of mastery who did not work hard. It can range from video games to physics professor, if you don't work hard you will not master anything let alone yourself. Get your body and mind familiar with hard work and that "inner voice" will adjust to the new normal and not knock you off track.
As always thanks for reading. Would love to hear from you please comment your thoughts on alternative was to master yourself.
Much Love!
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