The most elusive quality of excellence, of peak performers worldwide and throughout history is that thing called Mastery. What is this thing, and is it possible for ordinary people, however committed, to touch this exalted state?
The answer is yes, but Ive got good news, bad news, and more good news. The first good news is that the path is deceptively simple. The bad news is that it is hard, and can be painful. The last, good news is that those on the path have no real competitionvery few people are actually willing to be excellent in life. They want to talk about it, and dream about it, but are unwilling to actually pay the price.
And this, as Ive said, is very good indeed for those of us who are.
The first thing we must do is devise a useful definition of Mastery whether we are talking about this quality in the domain of writing and the arts, of interpersonal interactions, of intellectual pursuit. Then we must throw light on a pathway to this quality that will enable us to reach our peak potential.
Try this description: Mastery is the ability to perfectly match energy and attention to the task at hand. In other words, if every task has a...