The long and rocky path
Mar 02, 2021
In his book, Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment, George Leonard explains that because the path to mastery in any area is challenging, we are often tempted to look for shorter and easier ways to self-mastery.
He says that are three other paths that may entice us: these are the paths of The Dabbler. The Obsessive. And the Hacker.
- The Dabbler: Gets really into something for a while and loves the quick results but the moment things fade, he/she’s off to the next new thing—rationalizing that it just wasn’t a good fit. This path does not lead to mastery.
- The Obsessive: A bottom-line type of person who wants to get the tennis stroke right on the first lesson and, when results start to slow, pushes even harder to make it work, ignoring the fact that plateaus are part of the path of mastery—pushing and pushing mercilessly to create a continuing upward curve. Then? A sharp, sharp decline. Hence, no mastery.
- The Hacker: After sort of getting the hang of something, the hacker is content to stay at a plateau—never really improving his skills beyond the first basic level. Hacking, hacking hacking. Always taking the easiest shortest way. This also does not lead to mastery.
Personally, I find the path of the Dabbler distracts me the most. It is soooo easy to get distracted by the next shiny object, the new technology, the new blueprint or protocol.
Do you recognize which path is the most tempting for you? Which do you end up taking most often? Consider examples of how you may have shown up as a Dabbler, Obsessive or Hacker in your career, in your hobbies, in your relationships, in spirituality.
