5 FUNDAMENTALS OF MASTERY
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If you were to ask 10 different people what it means to be “successful” you’d likely get 10 different answers… and all of them would be correct. Every person has their own unique wants and needs - and creates their own definition of success.
Some see success in terms of career accomplishments, or how much money they have in their bank account… others’ definitions might lean more toward family or health… for some success is defined by the number of people they are able to serve…
Two people could have a completely different view of success… yet they’d still have one major thing in common…
Anybody who wants to achieve their definition of success has to be INTENTIONAL.
Think about how amazing a GPS is. It’s been one of the greatest technological advances of our lifetime. You plug in your destination, and you’re directed turn by turn until you get there… but a GPS will do you no good if you don’t know where you want to go.
#1 FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT TO DO
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Once you figure out what you want to do, you must figure out the person you need to become to achieve it...
What type of behavior will it take to become that person? …to obtain that goal?
Do you want to be great, or good enough? That’s a very important question. You can’t achieve “great” with some “good enough” behavior.
All aspects of our behavior, even parts not directly linked to our goal, will be the deciding factors as to whether or not we achieve it.
Winning a gold medal in the 100-meter dash isn’t achieved in 10 seconds on the track, it’s the result of years of gold medal behavior.
The crown of valedictorian isn’t achieved by taking tests in a classroom. It’s the result of years of valedictorian behavior.
Tom Brady doesn’t compete for a Super Bowl title on Sundays, he competes for that title every morning when he gets out of bed. Is Tom the best athlete playing on Sundays? No - but he beats the more talented athletes Monday thru Saturday… that’s why he beats them on Sundays.
What behavior has held you back in the past that you need to eliminate?
Have you been getting good quality sleep, or just fitting it in when you can?
Do you start your day off consuming negativity from the news and social media, or something positive?
Have you been exercising consistently, or only when you feel inspired to do so?
Do you eat nutritious foods that give you energy, or convenient junk that makes you feel sluggish?
Do you surround yourself with negative people, or positive / supportive people?
Are you keeping the commitments you make to yourself and others, or only doing what you “feel” like doing?
Do you take risks, or only do what you’re sure you will succeed at?
Most people aren’t paying attention to the patterns they follow from day to day… Most people aren’t conscious of how much a few bad habits - or good habits - can accumulate and change them over months and years… that’s why some in their thirties and forties look in the mirror one day and have a breakdown thinking, “how did I get here?” “Why am I fat and unhappy?” “How did I go from a college athlete to being 30 pounds overweight?” EASY. Your behavior changed one day at a time. You stopped consciously chasing a “Super Bowl title” and you started unconsciously chasing………….… COMFORT. You weren’t working towards anything… you weren’t intentional… you were just reacting to how you felt when you got out of bed each morning… reacting to your environment… reacting to the options you had in front of you…
Do we have the same level of free will our grandparents had?
Being REACTIVE instead of INTENTIONAL in today’s world can have a far different effect on us than it used to.
Our world is run by big business. Big business’ goals are to get you hooked / dependent on their products so they become a part of your everyday life. Companies spend billions on strategic marketing to get their products placed in your conscious and subconscious mind. For example, Coca Cola spent over 5.8 BILLION on marketing in 2018! In the old days marketing was limited to Billboards, Newspapers, and Radio. Now you carry their billboard in your pocket all day long. (it’s that phone you never talk on) When you’re not intentional, you risk falling into whatever unconscious pattern that these brilliant marketers have conjured up for you.
You ever unexpectedly find yourself sitting at McDonald's, drinking a coke, eating the long lost McRib, when amazon alerts you on your iphone of some “epic deals” on “cool stuff you’ll love”… then you find yourself making an unplanned stop on your way home to buy some Bud Light with your Capital One Venture Card? What’s in your wallet? It’s big business!
You must be INTENTIONAL with how you spend your time, energy, and money…… and when choosing the people you allow in your life.
You must ask yourself “What type of BEHAVIOR will it take for me to achieve what I want?” “Do I want to be great… or good enough?”
#1 figure out what you want to do
#2 figure out what type of behavior it will take to achieve it (and what CURRENT behavior NEEDS TO BE eliminateD)
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Why do most New Year’s Resolutions fail? They fail because people try to convert all their bad habits into good habits overnight.
“NEW YEAR NEW ME… I’m gonna stop eating carbs, run 5 miles a day, meditate, go to church, save the whales, and quit smoking! 5…4…3…2…1…GO!”
That’s not how we’re programmed.
The definition of a HABIT is a behavior that is repeated regularly, and tends to occur unconsciously.
You can’t reprogram your brain and change your unconscious patterns overnight.
You ever move your socks to a different drawer… or maybe you re-arrange your kitchen and move the silverware? Ever notice that for the first couple days you automatically go back to where that item used to be? You don’t consciously think about it, you just open that drawer and then remember the new location. The unconscious part of your brain is the part that leads you to the old drawer - then the conscious part of your brain remembers you moved what you were looking for. Eventually you get used to the adjustment and no longer reach for the old drawer. At that point your conscious and unconscious brain have both made the adjustment- they’re both on the same page.
Most have heard the expression “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” You can’t expect your brain to adjust to all your new habits as soon as the ball drops for the New Year – that’s why people don’t maintain the changes they make.
Real change is a process… you must build a new person.
How do you go from fit and happy - to fat and miserable? You accumulate negative changes until you become that person.
How do you go from fat and miserable - to fit and happy? You accumulate positive changes until you become that person.
#1 figure out what you want to do
#2 figure out what type of behavior it will take to achieve it
#3 use that new behavior to build the person who will achieve it
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Have you ever rented a moving truck??? Not a pickup truck- I’m talking about a big UHaul that seems like it’s way too wide for one lane… no rear-view mirror, manual windows, and if you’re lucky… a cassette player! You sign a bunch of paperwork that you don’t really read… you assure the person behind the desk that your car insurance will cover any damages even though you have no clue… then they hand you the keys! You’re now the proud owner of this big ass truck for the next 4 days and 400 miles. Congratulations, you did it! You reach up and open that big ass truck door… crawl up onto that big ass bouncy grey seat for the first time- and that’s when it hits you…………..…..
“………..HOLY SHIT I’VE GOTTA DRIVE THIS THING!”
There’s no rear-view mirror so you back it up using only the side mirrors and the power of prayer. (both of which you wish you’d been practicing in the weeks leading up to this adventure)
You successfully make it thru the gravel parking lot onto the road… you’re going half the speed limit… you’re pretty sure you’re only taking up one lane but who the hell knows. Your hands are at 10 and 2, your ringer is off, the radio is off, it’s completely silent EXCEPT for the voice in your head that keeps repeating, “holy shit I can’t wreck this truck! This was a horrible idea! What did I get myself into!?” ……..… you start yelling at the other cars on the road “it’s not safe for you here… get off the roads… save yourself!”
***Now fast forward four days later when you're on your way to return the truck***
You’re texting with one hand, eating pizza with the other hand… all while nailing every word in the Eminem song that’s blaring on the radio… the people in the car next to you are convinced you really are The Real Slim Shady.
You jump the curb into the parking lot hoping to catch a little air on your final ride. You slide perfectly into a parking spot and skip into the office. In one swift motion - you toss the keys to the U-Haul agent, give em a slap on the ass, and walk back out into the world... “What’s next!?”
—If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves. Thomas Edison
The only way to get better at something that scares you is to do it.
You were very uncomfortable when you crawled into that big ass truck on day one… You didn’t know how you were gonna successfully navigate thru traffic with zero fatalities… but you figured it out.
Remember… there was a time when you didn’t know how to drive a car, but you figured it out.
There was a time you didn’t know how to ride a bike, but you figured it out.
There was a time you didn’t know how to walk, but you figured it out.
But then again those things are “the norm”… most people that we see in real life can walk, ride a bike, and drive a car… so naturally our brain tells us those things are easy to do… and we like doing what’s easy… and we can’t wait to start doing something we see everybody else doing. Even if we’re afraid - the fear of being left out or different often overrules the fear of failure.
What other patterns do we replicate? Things that we don’t actually see with our eyes, but are pretty much “the norm” for most grown-ups?
Having big dreams as a child that you never even attempt to pursue as adult?
Staying at a “good enough” job for 30 years because you’re afraid of taking a step towards something better?
Staying in an unhealthy relationship for longer than you should because you’re afraid of initiating an uncomfortable break up?
What’s NOT the norm?
DRIVING THAT BIG ASS TRUCK
(But you can’t drive that big ass truck until you open that big ass door)
#1 figure out what you want to do
#2 figure out what type of behavior it will take to achieve it
#3 use that behavior to build the person who will achieve it
#4 start (even if you’re afraid)
5
Many stand-up comedians and serious comedy enthusiasts regard Richard Pryor as the best stand-up comedian of all time. It’s easy to look at someone who is a legend in their field, and assume that everything they’ve ever produced was great.
I’ve heard multiple comedians talk about watching Richard develop a new comedy special. They said after he would film a special, he would start over with 100% new material… they said he would BOMB HARD in front of a sold-out audience for months.
Byron Allen — “Richard would get a standing ovation just for hitting the stage… and then he would NOT do any old, proven, tried material and he would BOMB BOMB BOMB, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT, and after five-six months of that there was another 90 minutes of pure, unbelievable genius material…… and that's a lot of pressure when you got people giving you a standing ovation because they expect you to be the funniest thing they've ever seen, and he would just bomb”
George Wallace — “When Richard started on his new album everybody went like ‘dude this is not gonna work at all’… it was bad, it was horrible, it was horrible”
Arsenio Hall — “I think the coolest thing as a stand-up was to watch Richard performing at The Improv, and not doing well, because it was the best motivator in the world. I don’t think people ever imagine that the material on his album, at one time wasn’t working.”
He was expected to do great. Audiences were expecting Live On The Sunset Strip Richard — and what they received was Working On New Jokes That Aren’t Funny Yet Richard.
Most of us shy away from potential failure, even when nobody is watching. He was in front of a live audience that had high expectations. Failing in front of one person is uncomfortable… failing in front of hundreds, on stage, with spotlights on you, is a whole other level of discomfort.
He had hours of “old, proven, tried” material that would have resulted in laughter and praise from the audience……….. so why didn’t he use it? Why did he get up there every night for months and fail with new material??? One reason… because he’d set an intention - and stuck with it.
His INTENTION was to develop new material for his next album. The BEHAVIOR it was going to take to achieve it was to get on stage every night and work on new material, regardless of the outcome, regardless of what others thought, regardless of any discomfort…
If he was REACTIVE instead of INTENTIONAL, he probably would have said whatever it took to eliminate the discomfort caused by “failing.” He would have let others’ disapproval dictate his actions. He would have let the opinions of others overrule the INTENTION he’d set… he would have pressed pause on the process of creating “another 90 minutes of pure, unbelievable genius”… he would have become GOOD ENOUGH instead of GREAT…
If you value comfort and certainty over growth, you’ll never progress into an expert… you must become comfortable being uncomfortable. You must get off your bike and drive that big ass truck.