Mastery

How many hours would you be willing to commit to something?

Did you know that it takes 10,000 hours to master something.
That’s 416 days
Or if you do something for 2 hours every day it will take you 13.69 years to become a master.

That is commitment. Discipline.

Let’s face it, that’s why not everyone is an NHL all-star, or a concert pianist, or a rock star. The best actors aren’t reality TV stars, they are the ones that put in the work. Their work will be remembered long after they have left this plane.

“Gather in your resources, rally all your faculties, marshal all your energies, focus all your capacities upon mastery of at least one field of endeavor.”  John Haggai

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Being a good Canadian I will use a hockey analogy, and being from Edmonton I will use The Great One as the reference. You can insert Tiger Woods. Yo Yo Ma. Whoever.

The story is as legendary. He started playing when he was barely able to stand. He skated in the backyard rink (yes, Canadians are crazy and build rinks in their backyards even today). He played hockey almost, if not, everyday.

Okay so he was gifted, talented, yes. But it was more than that. He loved playing. It was his bliss.

He could anticipate where the game would go. He could skate. He could shoot with precision. Others could perhaps do any one of those things better than him, but few could beat him at the game overall. His famous quote: I don’t go where the puck is, but where it is going to be.

What made him even more amazing was not only for his love of the game, but his ethics and sportsman-like conduct on and off the ice.

He was creative in his approach to the game. A true master.

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Is there anything that you would like to master?

Something that you would be willing to commit 10,000 hours to mastering?

Do you know where your strengths lie and how those might manifest into your superpowers?

In order to become a master of your domain, what habits do you need to cultivate?

Strengths

Assuming you know what your strengths (read about how to do that here) are, how do you cultivate them? How do you manage your weaknesses?

Realistically, we all have gaps between our strengths and the things we are required to do everyday.  How do we round out our capabilities to do what is required of us?  This is even more important if you have a “day job” where someone pays you to do a job. Not all the aspects of that job are going to be aligned with your strengths. What do you do?

1. Awareness. Understand where your strengths are, areas for development, and areas where you are weak.

2. Understand your colleagues/team-mates. What are the strengths of your colleagues? What are they really good at and love to do? What drives them everyday?

3. Understand how a team approach can be better. When are you required to just get something done? Working together is balancing act.

4. Alignment of strengths to position requirements.  When can you draw upon the strengths of the team? You can’t always be going to someone else to get your job done. Everyone on a team wants to feel they are contributing and they want to see that other team members are also contributing their fair share.

Is your current job/position aligned to take the best advantage of your strengths and skill set? If not, perhaps a conversation is in order with your supervisor or it’s time to look for another job. If you are a owner, perhaps it’s time to augment your team by hiring someone to assist you in those areas where you aren’t rocking it.

Lessons from Leonardo week 3

Week 3 of 5 of my online course on How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci. Last week we were to start creating our own personal logo. I am still working on mine.  This week we talked about senses and how to truly use our senses to be fully aware of the world around us.

“The average person looks without seeing,

… listens without hearing,

… touches without feeling,

… eats without tasting, 

…moves without physical awareness,

…inhales without smelling, and

… talks without thinking.”  (Leonardo da Vinci).

He suggests that you take the time to see, feel, smell the beauty around you. An example is mealtime. In Europe it is common to take time aside for meals. To sit and enjoy it usually with others. So often in North America we barely take time to eat let alone enjoy it.

Take the time out to truly appreciate the world around you. You will likely be more curious about it – asking questions (#1) and experimenting (#2).

Our homework is to continue to work on our personal logo (impresa) and to write our life purpose in 25 words or less. We are also supposed to do a wine or chocolate tasting to work on our senses.

Strengths

What are your strengths? 

Test your strengths – Authentic Happiness (VIA Survey of Character Strengths) or Strength Finder 2.0.

Why is it important to understand your strengths and those of your team?

• Entrepreneurs should look for team members who augment their skills. If you are a solo entrepreneur but don’t have strong sales skills – look for someone to assist in this area.
• Build teams around people strengths – what skills do need on your team.
• Help develop yourself and team members by focusing on opportunities where they can develop their strengths.

I recently did my StrengthFinder 2.0 test again (first done in 2008 and again in 2011). My top five themes are the same: strategic, activator, learner, intellection, and connectedness.

At my job, I asked my teammates to do the test so we could see where our strengths complement each other. And I could identify gaps on our team.

More lessons from Leonardo

I had my week 2 class for “How to Learn from Leonardo da Vinci” course with Michael Gelb at entheos Academy this past weekend.

We continued our discussion on curiosity and then moved onto “dimostrione”. This is the commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and the willingness to learn from mistakes.

• Do you take action, try things out, learn and adjust?
• Are you afraid to make a mistake? Does this stop you from trying things out?
• Are you influenced from advertising and others?
• Do you challenge your most deeply held beliefs?

One of our lessons/assignments is to select one of your strongest held beliefs and challenge it.

Change your framework

Imagine if every time you say (or thought), “if only I”…

• If only I had done this.
• If only I had made this decision.
• If only this had happened instead.

Past focused.

That you changed the framework and said “what if”…

• What if I tried it this way?
• What if I did this?
• What if I said this?

Future consideration.

By simply changing the framework for the question, you change so much. Instead of focusing on the past you are focused on the present and future. You are focused on things that you can do, not things you didn’t do. You are in control.

The holidays are approaching and we so much gets brought up for us as we gather with our family to celebrate. Often we are triggered most by those we love. So, I challenge you over the next month to try this out. When you hear your thoughts or words going there – if only – stop yourself and ask – what if.

• What if instead of reacting to my xyz family member, I take a walk.  What would happen then?
• What if instead of getting annoyed with my xyz family member, I smile. What would happen then?
• What if… I do something about it that is different then the last time. What would happen then? Something different perhaps. Maybe not with the other person, but certainly possible within me.

I know I am going to do my best to take on this challenge.

Albert Einstein said it best: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results.” So why is it that we react and behave the same way with those we love and expect that the outcome will be different? Why do we act the same way at work and expect them to behave differently. It won’t change.

It’s time do something different or differently. Don’t wait until after something happens and think “if only I”. This time consider “what if”…

Lessons from da Vinci

I am currently taking an online course from entheos Academy called How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael Gelb. Michael wrote a book by the same title published in 2000. The premise of this personal development course is to think and behave like some of the great minds.

Academies used to be places to discuss and find truth, beauty and goodness. You have to use your brain – stretch, imagine, grow, develop. That is the thinking behind the entheos Academy created by Brian and Alexandra Johnson.

In Michael’s class, and book, there are seven key lessons that he teaches from a thorough examination of da Vinci’s life. The lessons:

• Curiosità – An insatiable quest for knowledge and continuous improvement
• Dimostrazione – Learning from experience
• Sensazione – Sharpening the senses
• Sfumato – Managing ambiguity and change
• Arte/Scienza – Whole-brain thinking
• Corporalità – Body-mind fitness
• Connessione – Systems thinking

Our ‘homework’ this week is the 100 Questions (see quick video below).

I am carving out some time to do this exercise. This is a great exercise to do before, or as part of, your 2012 planning. What are the major themes in your life?