I was recently sent a book called Mastery by George Leonard, as preparation for The Big Shift Experience in San Francisco this past weekend… woohoo! For the event and the book. 😉
What a great little read – I devoured the book on the plane on the way over… the basic idea is that we have forgotten, in this age of instant gratification, what it feels like to do something well, just to do it, not to get to the next thing, but just to do exactly what you are doing. Leonard asks the reader to try practicing Mastery while doing the dishes… just to enjoy being there, to be thoroughly present and not just to rush through the task to get it done. As I was in a hotel, I got to practice this with ironing, which is usually something I really dislike doing, but to be really present with each item and really do a great job of it really showed me how it wasn’t actually boring and it was almost meditative if I was really involved in it…
Of course the next step in the conference was to relate that concept to your business. What if being in your business was about Mastering something? What if your business is an opportunity to learn to be a Master? What if you approached your business as something you really wanted to Master, instead of just a job, or something to do to make money… what if like learning a Martial Art (Leonard practiced Aikido) the reward was just the practice of it, every day, with diligence and presence? The journey itself is the reason to fully engage and participate. Leonard presents 5 keys to Mastery that involve Instruction, Practice, Surrender, Intentionality and The Edge as the stages to pass through on the way to Mastery and to recognize which stage you may be in, so you can keep going and not give up.
