Mastery?

Everyone needs to be good at something, to experience what it is to excel at anything, to understand the time, energy, and commitment required to achieve a mastery level. It doesn't matter what the thing is. It could be writing, playing an instrument, throwing free throws, or even, yes, playing video games.

No one gets "good" at anything unless they spend time (lots of time) doing that thing. There are two byproducts of their time investment. 1) they get better at the thing they are doing which makes them feel good and brings them positive attention; and 2) they learn what is necessary for mastery.

The lesson gained from learning what is necessary for mastery can be applied to anything and everything else in life. For me to learn how to make 9 out of 10 free throw shots, I must make a personal investment. The return on this investment is an experience that I can then reference when approaching other challenges in life.

Having experienced some success in the past, I know what mastery feels like and I have a pretty good idea of how to get there. Sure each challenge is different; it's not the way we overcome the challenge, but the attitude and the experience we bring to meet the challenge head-on.

How much time do you spend working towards mastery? We may never reach "master class" in what we focus on, but that's not the point. It's making the commitment, and following through; then applying those experiences to other areas of our lives that is the key to success.