How to truley master anything
Apply these three simple steps and you can become a master at anything! That’s right! Only three steps. But there is a rule, and if you don’t follow this rule, it will not work. The rule is, you must apply all three steps over and over again. That’s it, simple! Now the over and over again aspect, is essentially just the philosophy of life. We never truly reach a point of mastery, no one ever truly masters life, they can just refine and get better, this applies to every aspect and area of life. In a sense mastery is first understanding there is no end destination, it is with in the practice that mastery is achieved. So how do we master the practice? Well first things first we need to know what we are practicing, therein lies the first step, information.
STEP 1) INFORMATION:
One must first learn information on such a topic, this can be through any form and or any learning style. As I am a martial artist I’m going to use and example of martial arts. Wrestling, one of the most gruelling and demanding physical expressions of the human body there is. Forms of the sport have been around for as long as humans have existed. It is essentially in our DNA to fight, and wrestling is a mastered version of fighting to become more effective. When learning this sport and the information is presented to us its generally in the form of physical movement and visualization of the coach/teacher. This is important to understand, as when learning information on a topic it is important to choose the learning style that is most practical and the style that suits you as a person best. Being taught and shown positions and moves is a much more effective way then reading a book on how to wrestle people. Now once we’ve consumed the information, we must then consume every and any aspect of it we can. The more information we have the better will we be able to apply it which leads us to our next step, application.
STEP 2) APPLICATION:
This step is by far the most important, this is about experiencing it for yourself, getting a better understanding of it and refining what does and doesn’t work. Take for example nutrition, arguably one of the most controversial subjects there is with some of the most contradicting evidence and studies. One of the best ways to find out what works is to use yourself as a test subject, monitor how you feel, get blood tests, track certain aspects of your health and make a calculated decision based on how you feel, perform and the data you receive. Obviously, this is a great way to figure out what works best for you as no 1 diet is going to work for everyone, this being one the main reasons it’s such a controversial subject. As technology develops so does our information even more of a reason to try it on yourself so you can speak from actual experience, not just information presented and consumed. Brining us to our final step, Teaching.
STEP 3) TEACHING:
This step is important for a number of reasons, one being that by teaching we are having to look at things from another perspective, seeing ways it had never occurred to us by only experiencing it ourselves. By teaching we also reinforce in our minds what we already know, this reinforcement is the repetition of what will embed it into our minds and our being. By teaching we get to see if it will also achieve results for others, how legit the process actually is and weed out potential ideas or concepts that are irrelevant. Practical Psychology being a fascinating subject to learn, apply and then teach. This is a subject that will always have to be taught in many different ways. Basically, it will depend on a person’s personality type their past experiences, there intelligence and on and on. For a very basic example, a true extrovert’s way of communicating is going to be extremely different to that of a true introvert, and the way that each person will be taught communication skills will have to be different also.
CONCLUSION:
Mastery is in the practise, this 3-step formula is a way to practice, refine and improve. It should be viewed as a cycle, constantly taking in information, applying it, teaching it and then becoming the student again, learning applying and teaching, on and on and on! A true master will always know they are always a student, for life itself is our teacher.
Big Love,
The Spuds.
