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focus on the process of engaging in their craft instead, are most ...
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This is the process. Merely doing the work, engaging with it not for the result but for the work itself. Those who engage in their craft, who find their process, are more likely to succeed--more likely to find meaning in their work.
harmonious passion doesn’t just magically arise. Rather, it requires deliberate work and practice.
Mastery is a mind-set and also a path. It leads to continual improvement and development. It values acute (in the moment) and chronic (over a lifetime) engagement but devalues most of the transient stuff in between (point-in-time successes or failures).
the six individual components of the mastery mind-set
Individuals on the path of mastery are driven from within.
their motivation originates from an internal desire to improve and engage in an activity for its own sake.
The mastery mind-set acknowledges that external motivators—be
will influence your motivation.
It requires deliberate choices and actions to keep such external motivators from staking too great a claim in your psyche
Perhaps the simplest and most effective of these actions is showing up and doing the work, every damn day.
Don’t judge yourself against others. Judge yourself against prior versions of yourself and the effort you are exerting in the present moment.
Effort in the present moment seems discouraging. Instead, set a bar, meet it, and do this over and over. Your daily process. Your daily 20 mile march. Be realistic.
You aren’t so much striving for specific goals as you are being present in an ongoing practice.
Enjoy the success or grieve the defeat, but within twenty-four hours, return to your craft, get back to work.
Core values are not just beliefs you pay lip service to but those that you truly strive to embody.
committing to mastery as a core value,
Proactively nurture your intrinsic motivation.
you are a parent, coach, manager, or teacher, encourage internal over external motivation in those you lead.
I will not use results oriented incentives within my organization. Nor will i work for an organization that does.
The mastery mind-set involves shifting your focus from achieving any one goal itself to executing on the process that gives you the best chance of more general improvement over time.
judges herself based not on whether she accomplishes her specific goal but rather on how well she executes her process.
it is the process, not the outcome, that is with...
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Focusing on the process also means breaking down goals into their component parts and concentrating on those parts.
Literally thinking of milestones and checkpoints on your 20 mile march. Extrapolate in time and work backward on time from a start and end, respectively, setting literal markers for your path--for your process.
First, set a goal—but remember, it should serve more as a direction than a destination.
Next, figure out the steps that are required to make progress toward that goal and that are within your control.
Important, these should be within your control because you have the resources to get there. If your don't have the resources, then you either figure out how to get them--which is also in your control--or you come up with a new path.
focus on nailing the steps instead.
Process spurs progress, and progress, on a deep neurochemical level, primes us to persist.
This is the danger of succeeding without a process. It's not reproducible and it's ultimately self defeating, leading to burnout and suffering.
Spend time reflecting on how well you adhered to a process that gives you the best chance of progressing in your chosen pursuit.
This. Incentives aligned with the path--the process. Agree upon a path, define the tasks on your march weekly, follow up on execution--not results--and determine success based on execution of the process, not the outcome of the work. Each week, adjust the tasks but stick with your process--stick to your march.
When your utmost goal is simply to get better, all failures and successes are temporary because you will forever improve, given more time and more practice.
Your pursuit ceases to be something you are aiming for and becomes a part of who you are.
“better” is less about objective results and more about the evolution of your relationship with your passion.
“Better” is about how the practice of your passion transforms you as a person.
set aside a moment to take stock of your goals. If they are pointed toward concrete objectives or win-loss outcomes, consider reframing them in the spirit of mastery.
They viewed challenges in a positive light—as opportunities to grow—and overcame failure thanks to a “never satisfied” attitude.
Almost champions, on the other hand, blamed setbacks on external causes, became negative, and lost motivation.
Do you attribute failure to variables that you can change, or perhaps just to a dose of downright bad luck that doesn’t have much to do with you? Or do you attribute failure to yourself—that you’re just not and won’t ever be good enough? Far too often, we default to the latter, which leads to a fear of failure that pushes us away from engaging in challenging experiences altogether.
Shedding your fear of failure starts with working to disconnect your sense of self and ego from the external product of your work.
You are not the product of your work but the work itself
if you remove your ego from the equation, failure can be a source of rich information and an opportunity to grow.
it does free you to pursue bold challenges, to push the envelope. When you do, one of two things will happen: You’ll either break through, or you’ll fail.
Failure is the dip that Seth godin speaks of, it's the hard part, it's the thing almost no one will get through so you must decide to continue on in your process and get through it
“The master has failed more times than the student has even tried.”
inevitable periods of boredom.
Also the dip.
“To learn anything significant, to make any lasting change in yourself, you must be willing to spend most of your time on the plateau.”
obsessive personality: someone who lacks the patience and stick-to-itiveness required for mastery:
The last few percentage points of performance—the gaps between good, great, and best-ever—take a long time to close.
When Bartholomew senses an athlete’s persistence and discipline are waning—something
he encourages them to reflect on their purpose.
It’s quick and easy to do: Just ask yourself why you’re committed to your pursuit.
answer is related to external validation or failure avoidance, it should prompt some serious reflection. But if your answer is aligned with mastery—for
being—then regularly coming back to your purpose is a powerful way to remind yourself of the value of staying the course, especially during times of boredom, when you’re on the plateau.
reflect on your purpose,
Doing so reminds you why you’re in this (whatever your respective “this” may be) in the first place, and also creates some space between impulse and action.
Pirsig told her the problem was that she wasn’t looking hard enough, she wasn’t paying close enough attention.
