Mastery

This week in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship I had to write a book report on George Leonard's book, "Mastery".  I just need to say that Abby is now going to have to read this book because it is perfect for her.  We know that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at something.  What Leonard teaches us, however is that the key to mastery is not only to have your eye on a goal, but to find success and fulfillment in the journey.  This concept goes against what mainstream society has lead us to believe.  We grow up in a society where instant gratification is the key.  We are taught that we do not have to wait for something, we can get it now.  Leonard disagrees.  In fact, he states that when most people come up with a new goal, they attack this new goal in one of three ways:

1 - The Dabbler - this is a person who likes to try many things and feels satisfaction with improvement, but when they hit a plateau, they give up and move on to the next thing.

Ummmmm. . . . . GUILTY!!!

I am TOTALLY a dabbler, but I am also number 2.

2 . The Obsessive - this is a person who is purely results oriented and thinks that they are different than the norm and can become a master in a shorter period of time.  They work hard and put in extra hours, but when they don't find their desired level of success based on their input, they give up and move on.

See?  I told you that I'm guilty of this one.

3 . The Hacker - this person likes where he's at in life and doesn't want to improve anything about themselves.

Whew!  I am not number 3, but I am definitely the first two!  What about you?  Do you see yourselves as any of these three people?  If you do, there's hope.  Leonard says that everyone is at least one of a combination of these three types of people at different times in their lives.  The key to mastery though is to learn to enjoy to practice.  Consistent, continuous practice even with little to no progress is what differentiates the three people above from a master.
Leonard goes on to give us tools to become a master.
These tools include:
1 - Instruction - the key is to find a good teacher.  A master is not always a good teacher.
2 - Practice - according to Leonard, practice is not something that you do, it's something that you have and something that you are.
3 - Surrender - you need to surrender to your teacher and to practice no matter how foolish you may look.
4 - Intentionality - a master approaches the path to mastery with clear visualizations.
5 - The Edge - a master pushes themselves to the edge while maintaining constistant practice.

These five tools of mastery give us what we need to continue on the path to mastery.

Ok, so I read the book.  The question I asked myself is "Why?"  Why is this one of the required reading materials for this course?  I would like to say that it was easy for me to figure out why we were supposed to read this book but I have pondered over this all week.  What does this have to do with becoming an entrepreneur?  The answer did come, but it came gradually.
I am also taking another business class this semester and in it I had to write a personal code of ethics.  As part of this code of ethics I had to write what my goal was in writing this code of ethics.  What I wrote down was the following: "My goal in writing this personal code of ethics is that it will serve as a guide throughout my life so that when I die, the world will be a better place because I was in it."  Because of this statement in my code of ethics, my career path is clear.  I want to be instrumental in bringing a highly reputable choral program to Katy, TX.  I am currently working with a friend who has already started this non-profit organization and I will be joining her as an Executive Director in September.  This non-profit foundation will be the beginning of something that I see can change the lives of many children through the power of music.
This is my path of mastery.  This is why I had to read the book.  My path has been hard for me to find.  I have spent many years looking for my path.  I have spent many years being a dabbler and an obsessive, and now I am ready to travel down my path to mastery.  This journey will require me to make many sacrifices but I believe that it will fulfill my goal from my personal code of ethics as well as lead me and my family to feel success and fulfillment along my path.  As George Leonard stated in his book, "A master is his path."  I hope that one day, I will be able to look back on my path of mastery and be proud in what I have been able to accomplish.