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PERSONAL MASTERY
We have crossed the threshold of constant change. A
threshold that forces us to abandon the comfort of the
familiar in-order to overcome the anxiety which comes with
the unknown – this unknown “change” package (sometimes
revealed as a preview of life’s coming attractions/trends)
constantly forces new learning on us – the act of finding the
stuff you love (through the play instinct, acting from inner
necessity), and getting so good at expressing your personal
discoveries that you become an indispensable human being;
achieving personal mastery.
Personal mastery is not really a goal or destination, but
rather a journey, a process. It is a process that involves
continual introspection, personal development and learning.
In the words of Charles Handy:
“Change, however, does not have to be forced on us by crisis
and calamity. We can do it for ourselves. If changing is only
another word for learning, then the theories of learning will
also be theories of changing. Those who are always learning
are those who can ride the waves of change and who see a
changing world as full of opportunities, not damages. They
are the one most likely to be survivors in a time of
discontinuity. They are also the enthusiasts and the
architects of new ways and forms and ideas. If you want to
change, try learning one might say, or more precisely, if you
want to be in control of your change, take learning more
seriously.”
The very root word for “learning” in Chinese is made up of
two symbols. One translates as “study”; and the other as to
“practice constantly”. Thus we only learn what we study by
doing it.
Peter Senge said: “People with a high level of personal
mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never
“arrive”. Sometimes, language, such as the term “personal
mastery”, creates a misleading sense of definiteness, of
black and white. But personal mastery is not something you
possess. It is a process. It is a lifelong discipline. People with
a high level of personal mastery are actually aware of their
ignorance, their incompetence, and their growth areas. And
they are deeply self-confident. Paradoxical? Only for those
who do not see that the “journey is the reward”. The journey
is the reward. It is not what you achieve at intermittent
points; it is what you become in the process of reaching for
incremental personal mastery.
I call this journey personal mastery. In other words, to take
the master’s journey, you have to do as George Leonard
said: