A Journey Worth Taking

Mastery can be a difficult concept to wrap a mind around. It is easy to confuse intent with action, action with progress, and excuses for reasons.

Making your intentions public adds accountability that goes a long way in keeping motivation strong and in focus, but that is only the first step. This is where most people lose sight of the issues. Intention is only the motivation not the action. It is the action you take that brings you closer to mastery.

Effort does not always bring results. Mastery is result dependant so it is imperative that the master continually evaluates where he is at and knows where he is going. This is part of the eye for detail that eludes so many people. We do not equate engine speed (rpm) with road speed and so we should not equate effort with results. As the cliche goes — work smarter, not harder.

When a student lists off excuses as to why their attendance or efforts have been lacking, I remind them that those excuses are the same reasons I will give them when they ask me why they did not earn a black belt from me. We all care about the turmoil and carnage a personal and professional life can bring to the best of plans and intention, however mastery does not. Mastery is either a yes or no proposition. Mastery does not recognize effort, only results.

All these points are common sense. Everybody knows them to be fundamentally sound yet it is those very points where most people fail on their journey to mastery. It is very easy to spend more time selling yourself through your words of intent to get the recognition that comes from earning a black belt than to consistently complete the most basic of tasks that define what it means to BE a black belt. Once you understand that mastery is about the quality of the journey, the way is clear.

“The journey is the reward.” - Chinese Proverb

Sifu Eva Dennis

I cannot say with all certainty when Eva Dennis became a student of mine. I believe the year was around 1989 or so. Maybe earlier, maybe later. Regardless, it was many years ago. Most would describe her start in the kung fu lifestyle as coming late in life. Almost thirty years later, she is still hard at it.

In the martial arts community she is known as Sifu Dennis - the tai chi teacher extraordinaire under whose caring, watchful eye all Silent River students forge their tai chi prowess. In the Silent River Kwoon, she is known as Sifu Dennis - the strong, compassionate leader who sets an example of perseverance and dedication that has inspired every student that has been lucky enough to cross her path. To me she is Eva, my friend and confidante whose advice and support has helped make Silent River Kung fu the school it is today.

To practitioners of kung fu, our lineage defines us. What we are taught is coloured by those who teach us. Silent River Kung Fu is very privileged to have a martial artist as skilled and dedicated as Sifu Eva Dennis defining our lineage.

“I saw behind me those who had gone, and before me, those who are to come. I looked back and saw my father, and his father, and all our fathers, and in front, to see my son, and his son, and the sons upon sons beyond. And their eyes were my eyes.” - Richard Llewellyn (1906 - 1983),  How Green Was My Valley

Mastery and Mediocrity

I’ve had a few discussions this past week about the intense responsibility that some people feel when they commit themselves to mastery. If you allow it, the commitment can consume you to the point that you lose sight of what personal mastery is really about.

If I only look at mastery as being about perfecting myself through the discipline of my effort, it can become overwhelming. There is always room for improvement, especially if you are a perfectionist. To make that level of commitment requires relentless effort.

My approach to mastery is very simple — I do not accept mediocrity in my life. To me, mastery is simply defining my values and identifying where my decisions and actions are not reflecting those values. No plan, no commitment, just awareness. If I do not accept mediocrity, I perpetually make unconscious choices to address mediocrity. This approach requires effortless effort on my part. Simple yes, easy no.

“Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.” - Fulton J. Sheen (1895 - 1979)

My Unwelcome Companion

Ah mediocrity, my old nemesis. I would like to say I have missed you but you haven’t really been away, have you? I don’t always recognize you at the time but retrospectively I can see your work and influence. You tend to hang around in the background but your leverage over my choices and what I am willing to accept is always front and centre — if I make the effort to notice. That is the key, isn’t it? Taking the time to notice.

Mediocrity, the bad choices you have helped me make are many and the cost of your companionship is beyond measure. How many relationships will I allow to fester in your grip until there is nothing left to salvage? How much time and opportunities will I lose during our unwelcome embrace? You are a deceptive and treacherous siren.

Mediocrity, no matter how much I fight to eradicate you, you continue to try and creep into my life. Mastery will be a struggle only as long as I accept you. You, mediocrity, continue to battle me but I am winning the war. As I become more mindful of your ways and guises, there are fewer shadows for you to hide in. As I continue to reap in the rewards from my commitment to mastery, your lies and deceit become more obvious and less believable.

I am wise enough to recognize that mediocrity is not something that can be completely eradicated. Mediocrity is the Yin, mastery the Yang. Like pursuing mastery, eradicating mediocrity is a journey, not a destination. My journey is continuously evolving, and the specifics of the mediocrity in my life will be defined by my priorities and my values.

“I react very badly when mediocrity throws a tantrum of entitlement.” - Lee Siegel (b. 1957)