Mastery

         Reading and remembering Mastery is a requirement I tend to sleep on every year, with no excuse.  I just have not made it a priority like I have my other requirements, plain and simple.  Going forward, my plan is to read it (step 1, obvious step), and step 2 is to write a blog on a section of it.  Step 3 would be to revisit those sections and see how it has changed for me.  With that in mind, here is my first blog on a section of "Mastery" by Stewart Emery.

        "Mastery in our career and consciousness simply requires that we constantly produce results beyond the ordinary.  Mastery is the result of consistently going beyond our limits."  This is an interesting start, considering near the end of this work, Emery states that we are all ordinary, and that a Master is defined because they don't condemn themselves to their ordinariness, but rather embrace it and use it.  At first glance I would say that our limits are fairly arbitrary.  They are constantly changing, and really, they are a result of our thoughts.  If you think of something as a mountain, it's going to be a mountain.  If you think of it as a hill, well then it's a hill.  For me that is the start of any journey, that mental piece.

        Producing results beyond the ordinary and consistently going beyond our limits.  What is ordinary?  Are we talking what is ordinary for us, or for society, because those can be two different things.  I would say that there are norms in society that we have all accepted and perhaps have enslaved ourselves to.  In this case, by stepping outside of societal norms would be to step out of mediocrity and onto a path of mastery.  In terms of consistently going beyond our limits... my answer in this snapshot of time, would be consistently putting in effort.  I believe our limits are constantly changing.  Sometimes we can do more, sometimes we can do less, but that doesn't mean mastery isn't present.  Same with effort.  I can be firing on all cylinders one day, and the next be running on fumes.  Regardless, I am making an effort to better myself.  I'm doing something, and not just sitting around, unless I'm actively engaging in recovery.

        We need to define our ordinary for ourselves and society.  We need to define and evaluate/reevaluate our limits.  It's okay to take a moment and be proud of the progress we've made, but realize in doing so, we have set new limits, we have set a new standard of ordinary.  To drive this point home I can use my Kung Fu training, but to really simplify it, I'm going to use my gym training as an example.  About 8 years ago, my exercise was running a few times a day, sometimes every day, and Kung Fu.  I thought I had great cardiovascular health and stamina, and good enough strength.  Then my partner and I began taking group fitness classes, and they humbled me.  Box jumps, assault bikes, rowers, HIIT classes really winded me.  We started going a few times a week, and I could see my progression, those same exercises no longer winded me the same way, and I continued to push myself.  A couple years later I started more weightlifting, and my limits were obvious.  With time you physically see the gains in your physique, and in the weight you're lifting.  Weight that used to feel heavy feels light, and you are able to do many more reps.  My limits changed.  My ordinariness changed.  When it was once normal to just be doing running, I added Kung Fu, weight training and fitness classes.  Where I had my limits with strength and my cardiovascular health, also changed as my body adapted and improved.

        Be honest with yourself.  Know what your limits and ordinariness are today.  Define them, and don't cheat yourself.  Recognize what they used to be, and recognize what they could be.