In Robert Greene’s book Mastery he describes 3 steps in your journey to becoming a master of your craft: learning, practicing and mastering. Each step must be done intensively and deliberately. Along your journey, no matter the step, you will need to exercise these 5 tips to fully achieve mastery of both self and your craft.
1. Adjust Your Focus
You need to adjust your mind-set to one of taking full and complete responsibility for whatever is happening in your life. Once you accept your current state at this very moment you can begin the necessary work of moving yourself forward. If you have a mind-set that circumstances are out of your control or that it is someone else’s fault, you will be destined to repeat your past mistakes. Your battle for mastery will be won or lost in your mind before you even begin.
2. Gather Feedback
In order to truly assess your strengths and weaknesses you must elicit feedback from your peers. This can be uncomfortable, or painful, but you must begin the journey by assessing what tools you need to bring with you and what tools to leave behind, as they will only serve to slow you down. Every opinion counts whether you agree with it or not. Own the responses. If you discount any response you may miss a great opportunity to refine yourself and become the best you can be.
Do this often. This will ensure you continue to refine and polish your strengths, while leaving your weakness behind.
3. Self-Reflection
It is important to end every day with self-reflection. Set aside specific time to assess the day. How did you contribute to your success throughout the day? Did you make mistakes? How did you handle it? What are the circumstances surrounding your peak performance?
Understanding oneself is the key to unlocking self-mastery. Do not make excuses. Be honest.
4. Commit to Self-Improvement
Although Robert Greene states the first step is intense learning, often through mentorship, learning shouldn’t stop once you get to the second step. Read books. Listen to podcasts. Read blogs. Explore all avenues of learning. Do not stop once you think you’ve know all there is to know.
“I know that I know nothing” – The Socratic Paradox
This means that you must never cease in you journey to know more, both about yourself and the world around you.
Commitment to self-improvement is not done through hoping time allows for you to spend 10 minutes learning. It is a conscious effort to set aside time for such activities. Your level of commitment to self-mastery will be evidenced by your commitment to this step.
5. Develop Your EQ
Emotional Intelligence is key to mastering yourself and your future. To effectively control you destiny you must be in control of your emotions and impulses. All your effort of self-improvement, self-reflection and adjusting your focus can be lost in a moment of impulsive behavior.
Do not let your emotions guide you. Control them through understanding what environments you excel and what environments drain your virtue.
If you add these 5 tips to self-mastery to your daily life, along with Robert Greene’s book Mastery you will be guaranteed success. Remember, you are in control of you journey, and it all begins with 1 step.
Eric Davis 