The Art of Living in Mastery: The 5 Keys to Mastery

Last month we defined what mastery is (lifelong dedication to effort without attachment to immediate results), and what to expect when you are mastering the art of living (a few ups and downs with most of the time living on the plateau).

Now that we know mastery is not that intimidating and anyone can be on the journey of mastery, lets go a little deeper and break down the keys to mastery. Plus, I’ll answer the question, “How do I get better if I don’t try to get to the next level?”.

The 5 Keys to Mastery

Instruction

o Learning from a master teacher will guide you in the right direction and keep you accountable. Forms of a teacher include one-on-one, small groups, as well as books/videos/virtual classes.

o Mastering life is a continuous, lifelong path so instruction does not need to be as frequent as if you were learning a new skill. Taking time to reflect, sitting down with a life coach, or reading a self-improvement book 3-4 times a year is sufficient. Schedule these sessions ahead of time so they don’t get missed in the busyness of life.

o At these sessions you can look back and rate how the last few months went: what went well and will continue, what went bad and needs adjustment; and looking forward: how to implement the changes to improve what went wrong; is there anything to add.

Practice

o Changing the definition of practice from something you do to something you are is a game changer. Practice becomes the path upon which you live.

o Switch out the word practice for live. Live (practice) for the enjoyment of living (practice), not improving. When we enjoy the path upon which we live it is easy to continue on it, and, in turn, you live (practice) every day. Growth, then, happens naturally.

Surrender

o This can be the hardest key to work through because you must set your ego aside. Your ego wants to keep things as is and does not like to be questioned. Mastering the art of living is all about changes and questioning.

o Mistakes will happen, you’ll fall off your path and your ego will try to tell you this is too hard, but, remembering the mastery curve, sets back are apart of moving forward. Surrender to the fact you made a mistake, look at it, reflect on it, and learn from it.

o Many of us will have to unlearn certain tendencies to grow and improve. The ego believes it knows everything so unlearning takes time, persistence, and open-mindedness.

Intentionality

o Living intentionally takes work. Our mind is usually the master of us, and we just move through our days allowing the mind to dictate our reactions and emotions. Living intentionally flips the switch and makes us the master of the mind. We decide how we act in certain situation. We decide the emotions we feel. But first, we must learn what intentionality is.

o Being intentional is a mental practice. Being able to visualize how you want your day/week/meeting/etc. go will help keep you in the master’s seat.

o Choose a time, maybe Sunday night, to take time to visualize your week. See yourself going thru your busy times as well as how you want your down time to go. Be broad here because then, each morning, take a few minutes to visualize your day where you can get more detailed. Don’t go overboard on details and timing thing out, allow your days to still have flexibility in them. If you have a big meeting or are hosting a party, this is where you get into fine details.

The Edge

o Here is where we find improvement- playing the edge. Testing your limits is allowed on the path of mastery but doing so with intention. Having the awareness of where you are trying to get to without pushing past safe limits.

o Masters find the way to walk the fine line of endless, goalless practice and the alluring goals along the way. They don’t live in the either/or world but in the both/and mentality.

o A master will work towards a goal, hit the goal, then go back daily living (remember the master’s curve). They don’t expect people to treat them differently nor do they act differently to others.

Sounds pretty straight forward, right? It is, however, there are things that can divert you off your path to living in mastery. We will go over these pitfalls in next months blog.