The Only Thing We Can Truly Master.

When we talk about Mastery, we often think about an endpoint. Some moment in time in which there is nothing left to learn because we have completed every task and unlocked every achievement within a specific skillset. Whether it’s cooking, tennis, basketball, martial arts, or yoga, we all think that the point of Mastery is some magical endpoint in which all learning stops.

In truth, all learning in life never truly stops and there is always something that you can improve upon.

“We are on an infinite swim towards a non-existent shore.”

Because we are still living, there is always some new thing to learn and way to adapt, understand and grow. Because we are still living, we are in a constant state of change. It isn’t until we are dead that our learning ever truly stops.

Enter: Kaizen.

Kaizen is a Japanese principle centred around the idea of continuous daily improvement. It doesn’t set out to achieve some end; rather, develop small incremental improvements over an indefinite amount of time in order to asymptotically approach, but never actually reach perfection.

“You are on an infinite swim towards a non-existent shore.”

Think about it this way:

By practicing Kaizen (continuous daily improvement) you can work on a specific skill to get at least 1% better each day. By the end of the year, you will have seen a 365% improvement. By the end of two years, a 730% improvement, and so on…

In choosing to continuously improve in this manner, not only does it get you exceptionally far in the long run, it really highlights the importance of sticking to a practice and the power of small progress over time.

The problem arises when we are not conscious (ie. aware) of the skills that we are building. In reality, we are all in a practice of Kaizen, whether we like it or not; manifesting in the form of habits.

Each day, we spend our time building skills and encoding habits which we may or may not wish to cultivate.

Are you working a job that you hate? Are you teaching yourself that eating a pint of ice cream every night makes you happy? Are you telling yourself that you’re not good enough?

These are skills (ie. habits) that you are building at a rate of at least 1% per day; which, over time, improve by a rate of 365% per year, and 730% every 2 years, and so on…

So, perhaps it’s time to start asking yourself: which skills and habits am I reenforcing that I do want, and which skills and habits am I reinforcing that I don’t want?

-live consciously.