Mastery — what does it truly take?

All of us have blindspots. One of my big ones is overestimating my ability to convert knowledge into mastery. 

I fall into the trap of thinking that just because I know what I’m supposed to do, I will do it — and do it at the highest level. 

You might call this arrogance, or hubris, or simply wishful thinking. Whatever you call it, it’s not a model for success. 

And the worst thing about this is that I, of all people, should know better. 

I spent decades developing mastery as a performer, so I definitely know what it takes. I get it on a visceral level. The thousands of hours of practice, of repetition, of making myself uncomfortable over and over again until what was once uncomfortable, becomes comfortable — and then, eventually, becomes effortless. 

I have lived this. And still I forget. 

I’ve been coaching for a very long time, but there are other aspects of running a full-time business that are new to me — successful entrepreneurship is a skill set, just like anything else. And just like anything else, simply understanding the skills of entrepreneurship is not enough to achieve mastery. 

And me believing I can magically skip over the hard work of practice and repetition is, to be frank, delusional.

Many of my clients have a similar blindspot. Even highly accomplished people can fail to acknowledge the sheer amount of intentional practice and repetition required to achieve true mastery. 

This isn't about being lazy. It's just (mistakenly) thinking that knowing is enough.

You might relate to some of these examples?

• You interrupt a lot, and you truly know that this doesn’t serve you. And yet the pattern remains. You are not yet a masterful listener.

• You rush to provide answers without slowing down to stay curious for longer. You really do know the value of curiosity, and yet you forget in the moment. You are not yet a masterful problem solver.

• You routinely go into difficult conversations without centering yourself and setting a clear intention for how you want to carry yourself. When you do remember to center yourself you notice an impact, but it’s far from second nature and it feels foreign. You are not yet a master at emotional self regulation.

• You’ve read the books and you understand how to offer feedback in a truly helpful and constructive way, but you only practice this in a couple annual review meetings each year. You won’t be approaching mastery any time soon. 

• You have learned about lots of time management solutions, and you still end up behind, scattered, and overextended. You don’t yet have mastery over your time and energy.

Important: There's no rule that says we have to develop mastery everywhere. It's okay that it's not a priority or necessary in lots of areas in our lives. 

And, if we do want to build mastery, what’s the solution?

Unfortunately for all of us who love to be excellent at everything, simply knowing more isn’t the way. The solution is to get messy and to give ourselves lots and lots of opportunity to practice. 

And let me tell you, practicing something we’re not good at doesn’t always feel so great. (Hello, ego!)

I know this because I just did this with my own coach last week. We set up some business scenarios I needed to practice, and I got messy. It was super uncomfortable. I felt exposed, embarrassed, and there was a lot of judgment that I “shouldn’t” need to do this. (Back to that blind spot of mine.)

And it was incredibly valuable. So we’re going to do it again. And again. And again.

You can do this, too. 

If you don’t have built-in opportunities to practice, create them. Do dry-runs of your tough conversations. Borrow a friend or a colleague and practice offering feedback. Practice not interrupting during every single meal you share with your partner. Practice asking one thoughtful question in every single 1:1 meeting with a direct report. 

And keep going. Over and over and over. And over. Even if you think you shouldn’t need to. If you want to develop true mastery, there’s no short cut. 

NOT SO FAST: For those of you reading this thinking, “great, now I know how to achieve mastery” — slow down. Remember that knowing isn’t it. Don’t just file this email away in your brain. 

I encourage you to join me in the discomfort and challenge yourself to practice something, in the real world. 

And then do it again. Celebrate the effort — and let me know how it goes!

PS — If you want to build mastery by practicing more, I recommend you build a system to ensure you actually do the work! Read this short article by James Clear on the importance of systems. (TL;DR = systems are much more effective than goals.)