What is Ordinary Mastery?
An intentional paradox...
I was inspired to start a blog about the subject of Mastery while reading the book ‘Mastery’ by George Leonard and stumbling across the most inspiring and masterful work of art I’d seen in years - a song called ‘Hi Ren’ by the musician, Ren.
But fearful I’d be called out for the fraudulent misdemeanor of not actually really being a Master of anything special, I’ve opted for a cop-out and called it Ordinary Mastery. Practicing things, aiming to be the best I can be at something has been a lifelong pursuit for me in various fields, probably too many fields as I’m more of a ‘Jack of all Trades’, so this will be medium for musing on the subject and finding ways to be less of a Jack and more of a Master.
Surely Ordinary Mastery is a paradox!
Isn’t the term Mastery, by definition, an out-of-the-ordinary phenomenon? Don’t we value Mastery, and pay a high premium when engaging the services of those who possess Mastery? Isn’t the rarity of Mastery the very thing that makes it sought after by the ambitious?
Well yes, in one sense Mastery is that scarce level of expertise which can only be acquired through many years of dedication and commitment. But ask any sincere ‘expert’ whether they have achieved Mastery and I bet they’d be found the feeling that they still have more work to do, more experience to gain, and a sense of inadequacy, on a never-ending path of Mastery.
Ordinary Mastery is not so Paradoxical
I would like to assert Mastery as an attitude. It’s an attitude that Ordinary people can adopt in their everyday lives. It’s an Ordinary attitude, available to all, which brings meaning and fulfilment in the pursuit of excellence in our Ordinary lives.
Always start with definitions:
How many times have you been in a debate about something only to find that you are arguing over words or more specifically different interpretations of the same words? To avoid the tangent and to get straight to the point, I’ve created a footnote to explain the importance of starting with definitions1.
So what do I mean by Mastery?
Some bullets on the nature and characteristics of Mastery from my personal perspective:
Mastery is both an idealistic competency in a particular domain, as well as an attitude or stance one may take in serving to achieve the ideal.
When you’re following a path of mastery you can feel it - your actions on the path, with an attitude of Mastery can easily put you into the FLOW state.
You can’t pretend that you’re on a path of mastery, if you’re cutting corners, if you don’t feel a sense of meaningful purpose in the endeavour, you’re not on the path.
Mastery is not a destination, it’s more of a ‘path of mastery’ than a ‘path to mastery’.
There are no prescriptions, no programmatic 10-steps to mastery, it is an untravelled path unique to the individual and their circumstances.
The Master’s journey is one of continual learning, a humble journey of failure and adaption.
The path of Mastery is pursued for its own sake, rather than for material reward or other success accolades.
Mastery is the unfolding of potential, the becoming of who you are.
Mastery is an overcoming, a transcendence of ourselves and perceived limits.
Mastery is fighting your internal resistance, each and every day refusing to listen to the voice in your head saying you’re too Ordinary for this path.
For one person, the path of Mastery will involve conquering mountain peaks, for others it may simply be dragging themselves out of a pit of adversity and sorry, both are equally valid.
We come into this world without being given a purpose, without an explanation, ignorant of any meaning in life, but this is a good thing, it means we are free, and we have the freedom to make our own meaning. Creating a path of mastery imbues one’s life with meaning.
Our idea of Mastery has transcendent qualities, a god-like truth, a perfectionist beauty, and a higher ideal to be realised through the unfolding of our potential. The Journey of Mastery is beyond the human ego.
But ultimately, the concept of Mastery is a made-up thing, it is abstract rather than concrete. It’s a useful convention. It is a motivating aspiration, but it is not truth.
What do I mean by Ordinary, in the context of Mastery?
Most of us do not lead lives in the pure and consistent pursuit of Mastery. We lead Ordinary, somewhat messy lives. We have obligations and commitments, dramas and meltdowns, the natural constraints and vicissitudes of modern human existence.
Our lives become Ordinary through our acculturation to comfort. We meet our needs or indulge in luxuries on tap, or upon the tap of an icon on our phones. The path of Mastery is one of deliberate discomfort, voluntary steps out of the comfort zone.
The ideal of Mastery is accessible to Ordinary people, we often have self-limiting beliefs and massively underestimate our potential.
The path of Mastery is often boring, and somewhat Ordinary. Our progress often plateaus and we feel rather Ordinary in comparison to our ideal.
Systematically keeping to a practice routine can be a slog. Overnight success is a misnomer, it is only attained through the repetition of Ordinary actions.
Ordinary people are imperfect and make mistakes, but failure and mistakes are unavoidable steps on the path of Mastery.
Mastery doesn't come from practice, mastery is practice. The Ordinary, the boring, the repetitive, the dreary slog.
What we perceive as Mastery in others is often a facade, an image or the result of an unsustainable obsession. True Mastery is found in the quiet, consistent acts of Ordinary people - their consistent striving for an ideal despite having to do the dishes and put the bins out.
In our Ordinary lives, we need balance. The advice of Success Gurus is often unbalanced and potentially destructive, especially those advocating a continual hustle. Ordinary people need a balanced path of Mastery, not a path of obsession and burnout.
Ordinary is the everyday experience, but it is not to advocate conformity - only by deviating from social norms can we progress on the path to Mastery.
Mastery doesn't come from the grind, or the hustle - that's an unsustainable obsession which will likely end in burnout or self-destruction. Mastery comes from a holistic, balanced, life-long sustainable practice.Striving for Mastery could and should be normalised. We often suppress our dreams and aspirations by conforming to social pressure, and not wanting to stand out. We put ourselves down and let others put us down. This is destructive to the human spirit and the natural Ordinary human desire for Mastery.
Mastery starts with humility. Adopting the Ordinary beginner's mind and realising you don't know shit.
For some, Ordinary Mastery would be the simple, but noble path of Mastering the art of being the best parent, the best teacher, the best friend, or the best leader you can possibly be.
I will be drawing on my extensive inexperience as a Master, and my considerable expertise in the Ordinary and relate that to the everyday strivings of everyday people as we humbly delve into the psychology and philosophy of mastery to uncover new insights, perspectives, and resources to help inspire, motivate and support us on our own personal ‘Paths of Ordinary Mastery’.
It is interesting that one of the reasons I want to be clear on definitions and the purpose of Ordinary Mastery, as well as being honest about the limits of my credentials is because I imagine people saying ‘who does this dude think he is preaching to me about mastery, what the heck has he achieved to make him an authority?’. However, I can assure any reader that any questioning or criticism will be no match for my own inner critic, my own self-doubt, and wondering if I have anything worth saying that people would actually want to listen to. But it is in the ‘spirit of the fool’ that I aim to naively adopt the Beginner’s Mind in this endeavour in exploring the concept of Ordinary Mastery.
Aspirations
What do I hope to achieve with Ordinary Mastery?
Well, I really hope I can create top-notch content, not content for the sake of content, but something ordinary people will really resonate with.
I want to collect and share stories from ordinary people, their aspirations, their struggles, and their overcomings so that we may collectively root for them in their endeavours.
I hope to learn as much as possible from delving deep into the idea of Ordinary Mastery so I may be motivated on my own journey on and off the path of mastery, as well as hopefully helping others to discover their own motivation.
I would like to develop and share a set of tools, techniques, concepts, practices, and methodologies to give structure and support to others choosing a path of Ordinary Mastery
I hope that by embracing the Ordinary, I will produce something that is accessible to anyone and highly relatable in a way that the preachings of ‘superstar success gurus’ is not.
But to quote the wise words of Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” - I’m open to adapting and tweaking things as I go.
The Importance of always starting with definitions:
It happens all the time, whether in business meetings, discussing politics over the dinner table, and especially going down the rabbit hole of controversial emotionally charged topics in social media cesspits.
In our efforts to ‘win’ the argument, we’re unaccustomed to pausing and clarifying the fundamentals. Often if we were to do so, we would find that we fundamentally agree on things - putting narcissists, psychopaths, Machiavellians, and sadomasochists to one side, we generally want a thriving world of sustainable opportunity for all, fairness, prosperity, well-being, and personal fulfilment. That’s not to deny or undervalue the inevitable suffering in our human lives, and the many struggles with the darker sides of our personalities, but it remains my naive faith that there is a common good in humanity and we generally want the best for each other.
But we get attached to our perspectives, our attachment to our interpretations of words, and rarely do the work to understand each other’s definitions of words which would not only explain why we disagree so much, but would also invoke further inquiry into our underlying needs, values and principles that cause us to be so divided on issues. It’s my belief that spending more time clarifying our interpretations of common words that form the presuppositions to our arguments would yield enormous progress for our common humanity.
Unless you carefully define the terms you are using, at the beginning of something, people will apply their own interpretations.
I will check out the article you linked, John. And I can see music being one of your passions. In one of your posts (perhaps the one on which I commented), you linked a Youtube video by Ren (of whom I had never heard) and said it was the most creative thing to which you listened recently. It made me curious, so I clicked, and boy was it good. I listened to it two or three times and then to other songs by the same artist. Thank you for that!
One thing you did not mention is: _Why_ would one adopt an attitude of mastery? I think what’s really helpful in learning (or acquiring mastery) is that the learner have an emotional connection to the learning path that’s ahead. The learner has to connect the path to some area in his/her life that she is passionate about, and that passion can serve as a driver through the slog you have talked about. For example, we have five dimmer switches in our house, lined up in a row. It’s been a decade since their installation, and I still can’t remember which switch powers which light. Simply because it does not interest me. It used to aggravate my spouse, but appeasing him is not the kind of incentive that works for me. In the same time frame I have taught myself the art of plant-based cooking, DSLR photography, Spanish, plant identification and a few other things, simply because these skills connect to something that’s deeply important to me.