Excel is not just a Spreadsheet
“My guess is that your goal in life isn`t just to be average or ok or not bad in everything you do. Go on, admit it. You want to be stonkingly good at something.”
Personal mastery begins with a vision of what you want to achieve with your life. That`s also where the problems start. Most of us rub along with little sense of real vision. We might have a few goals and objectives, but it`s hardly inspiring. Often our goals are more about what we don`t want than what we do. We might say that we want a better job, but actually our primary desire is to be rid of our current job.
Having a personal vision is about a desire to apply a sense of purpose to something that is really meaningful to us. For some people, a personal vision has quasi-religious or mystical overtones because it answers the question: Why am I here? For others, it`s an entirely earthbound drive to excel that is underpinned by the sense that life is not a dress rehearsal. Wherever the drive comes from, it`s about wanting something passionately.
Let`s be clear, though wanting something and making it happen are different things. I might enjoy rowing and have fancy to become a future Olympic champion. But am I prepared to commit to the regime necessary to get anywhere near the necessary level of excellence?
(Don`t be the world`s best kept secret. Once you know in which areas you wish to attain personal mastery, tell other people what you aspire to. The more we become known for being something, the more likely it is that others at different places on the same journey will consciously seek us out)
Personal mastery involves taking personal responsibility for making something happen. It is a journey that starts when we come to realize that we are master of our own destiny.
‘Personal mastery goes beyond competence and skulls, though it is grounded in competence and skills. It goes beyond spiritual unfolding or opening, although it requires spiritual growth. It means approaching one`s life as a creative work, living life from a creative as opposed to a reactive viewpoint… People with high levels of personal mastery are continually expanding their ability to create the results in life they truly seek.’
When we talk about personal mastery, some people have a problem with the language used, which often seems to be drawn from those slightly smug self-help texts. All this talk of ‘life purpose’, ‘spiritual growth’ and ‘being on a journey’ is not necessarily everyone`s cup of tea. It`s worth emphasizing that somebody who has attained a field is just as likely to be a salt-of-the-earth pragmatist as a sandal-wearing mystic.
Once we have a vision of what we want to become, what separates the achievers from the dreamers is a willingness to commit to the pursuit of the vision. You can achieve whatever is most important to you in the world as long as you are prepared to forgo whatever is second most important.
There`s Zen saying: After enlightenment, the laundry. Personal mastery too is a combination of the glory days and the hard yards. But once you commit energy and resources to becoming whatever it is you want to be, you will find that you become automatically more alert to opportunities to develop your talent.
(Personal mastery teaches us to choose. Choosing is a courageous act: picking the results and actions which you will make into your destiny)
“What does it take to excel at something? Turns out it`s a mixture of vision, commitment, hard graft and a sprinkling of talent.”
This I read from a good book and thought of sharing with you all..
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