So this is incredibly ironic that I am sitting here at my computer working to be compliant with blogging… because I agreed to.   Totally not one of my favorite things to do, and this definitely stretches me.  The double-irony of it is that I am blogging on Chapter 5 of Daniel Pinks’ book, “Drive,” and the title of this chapter is Mastery!

This chapter is all about going from compliance-to-engagement, as a road to mastery.   Of course there is a lot more involved in this chapter, it is just funny where I am sitting right now on that continuum.  As a business owner I am totally on board to work towards our business goals and towards success, yet when blogging I often feel drained and unengaged.    I really want to be on the other end of the continuum, engaged, motivated, experiencing “flow” while blogging.

So here is what I am applying that I have learned from this chapter.  Mastery is a mindset, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right,” as stated by Henry Ford.  My belief in my capabilities shapes how I approach tasks like blogging.

Mastery can be painful!   The path to mastery, to become ever better at something you care about, is not lined with daisies and spanned by a rainbow.  If it were, more of us would make the trip.  Mastery hurts sometimes… even many times… it’s not much fun.  I totally resonate with that!!

I care about our company and will do the not-so-pleasant stuff (e.g., blogging) to own my responsibility in our company’s success.  The final law of mastery is that mastery is an asymptote – a constant approaching without ever quite reaching it.  You can zero in on it, get really, really, really close to it, but you can never touch it.  How frustrating, reaching for something that you never can attain!!  However, mastery is also a source of allure, the excitement of pursuing it may be more fulfilling that the final realization of it.

This is totally about the process I create in my pursuit of mastery, it has to be colored with my style and flavor when I blog.  How I get to where I am going has to be shaped by me, and it is crazy how I am feeling myself move on the continuum towards engagement, simply by working through this blog!  I think I will start another blog right now…

just kidding!!!