Mastery

Maybe it's the way Roger Federer swings his racquet or the concentration of Michael Schumacher while he's driving on the track. When you look at them doing what they do best, you can tell they are the masters of their art.

It resists definition, yet can be instantly recognized. - George Leonard on Mastery

Mastery isn't reserved to the talented few but to anyone who is willing to devote their life and have the determination to stick to it. It is not a destination or a goal but rather a journey of self-improvement.

Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person. - Albert Einstein

Before we start the journey to master our art, we must first know how mastery works. The 3 Laws of Mastery from Drive that might help us understand the true nature of mastery.

  1. Mastery is a Mindset - You need to tell yourself that anyone can do it. You should subscribe to the notion that intelligence is something malleable. The goal is to get better at something, not proving that you can do something. Learning should be your mindset in pursuing mastery.
  2. Mastery is Pain - The journey of mastery is a tough one. You need to have the determination to make it through. Mastery is a grind and a very tough one at that.
  3. Mastery is an Asymptote - Asymptote is a line that a curve approaches but never quite reaches. Mastery is something that you can get really close to but never be able to fully achieve. It is elusive and also the reason why many pursue it.

If you are still up for it, try applying the 5 keys to Mastery from George Leonard's Mastery.

  1. Surrender - You need to surrender to your passion. The journey is long and tough so why not make it more enjoyable. Follow your heart and be true to yourself.
  2. Practice - It is not about talent. It's about your determination, your devotion, your willingness to do the things you love on days that you don't feel like doing it. Don't give up.
  3. Instruction - Get a mentor or guide. Someone to teach you so you are doing the right things and not repeating the wrong things.
  4. Intentionality - Visualize the outcome you desire. Once you have the vision in your mind, it's easier to bring it to life. Every master is a master of vision.
  5. The Edge - Always challenge to out-do yourself. You have to keep pushing the edge of the box and believe that everything is possible.

This journey is not for the faint-hearted or the undetermined but definitely open to anyone who are willing to give their all to it. You may never achieve true mastery but the process itself is rewarding enough. After all, if it is easily attainable, why bother at all.

Work is not just work

The thing that we spend most of our time on besides eating, sleeping and breathing, is probably working. To some, work is a means to an end while for others it's their life-long passion. We often relate money with work. In fact, one of the definition for working is actively engaged in paid work. We do work to earn money but that shouldn't be the only thing we are working for.

In Drive, Daniel argues that money isn't the best motivator for work and in some cases can affect performance negatively. A lot of people get up for work every morning not because of the money. They are there to get into the flow, to accomplish something that matters, to solve difficult problems and to master their art.

If work is boring to you, maybe you should consider getting another job. It is something that you have to do for most of your life. Why not do something that you love and something that matters?

Working isn't just something you do in your life. It is the way for you to show the world what your life is all about.

Set a deadline

If you have trouble getting things done, consider setting yourself a deadline to complete it. Done right, this can motivate and focus your mind on things that matters. When you have a deadline, it narrows your focus. You are now focused on getting that one thing done. It makes it easier to start and easier to achieve. Software companies like Atlassian organize 24-hour code fest (named Fedex day) to get new product ideas.

The time constraint you imposed on yourself can also help you keep things in check. Because there is limited time available, you are forced to do things that are really needed. 37signals used constraints to prevent their software from having too many unnecessary features.

The deadline itself should also be seen as a motivator. Sales and deals have a deadline for a reason. It gets people to act and over time, meeting deadlines itself can be a reward. But try avoid those deals if you can.

Obviously, none of this will work if you don't enforce the deadline. You could try set up some punishment for missing it or reward yourself for meeting it. Either way, tell yourself that you need to meet the deadline one way or another.

Start setting deadlines and maybe you can get more done.

Freelancer mentality

In recent years, there's a rise in freelancers for fields like photography, design and programming. Falling equipment prices and powerful online tools made it extremely easy for anyone to start their own freelance operation. Like with everything else, your approach and mentality towards freelancing is very important and will greatly affect its outcome. Here are some thoughts on how you should freelance.

  1. Price - This is the number 1 reason why companies hire freelancers. Since your costs and expenses are lower than a normal business, you can afford to charge lower. But this is a trap. If you charge too low, you'll end up de-motivating yourself when it take longer than usual to complete. Try to charge a reasonable price that you are comfortable with even when things don't go according to plan.
  2. Specifications - You need to have the specifications of the gig written down in black and white. It is hard to cover everything but at least there is a reference for you and your client when an agreement can not be reached.
  3. Quality - I think this is the most important factor that determines if your freelancing endeavor will be successful or not. Due to pricing and specifications issues, a lot of freelancers ignore the quality of their work. They adopt the get it done and move on mentality. The quality of your work will be remembered long after your pricing is forgotten. Read this piece from Seth on how freelancers can make a difference.
  4. Proper documentation - This is an extension of the 2nd point. Try to provide all the necessary documentation to your clients. It will make you look professional and protect you from troubles later on in the project.
  5. Run it like a business - If you could only adopt 1 of the points here, let it be this one. You have to consider yourself as a business owner. Show that you are doing this for the long haul. Form a company if you can and start building your brand.

Obviously this isn't an exhaustive list. There are many other things you could do to make your freelancing better and more fun. As long as you have the right mentality towards it, you'll be alright.

Barcode that helps you shop

A group of designers came up with an idea to help those who can't tell if a fruit is rotten, pick the fresh ones.

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In supermarkets where loads of veggies is stacked and dumped, freshness may not be a priority. Keeping a track of all that’s been brought in can be time consuming and not all buyers may have a knack for freshness count. The Fresh Code offers a simple solution to this problem; it’s an intelligent barcode with a graph that indicates the freshness level. As time passes by, the graph on the barcode keeps receding, till it finally reaches “0”; indicating that the veggie needs to be dumped and not sold - Yanko Design

If only they have one that also tell you if you are being ripped off by the supermarket. I might actually enjoy shopping then.

Learn to pick your fights

Not gun fights or fist fights but goals and tasks that you decide to challenge in your everyday life. You can't just get yourself into every fight and expect to win. Here's some tips to prepare yourself for the next challenge.

  1. Divide and Conquer - Split the objective into smaller ones. This should be intuitive. You are not Ip Man so stop trying to fight 10 battles at the same time.
  2. Henchmen first, Boss last - Like in movies, the protagonist always fight his/her way through the henchmen before confronting the boss. Complete the simpler tasks first to build up confidence.
  3. Skip some fights - There is no reason to fight every single battle out there. It is wise to only fight those you need to and let your sidekick handle the rest.
  4. Don't bring a knife to a gun-fight - Make sure you are well-equipped. You are going to need all the help you can get.
  5. It's okay to run - If it's just too hard, retreat and fight another day. Go for something that's easier first (Rule #2). Don't waste time on fights that you can't win (yet).

If you keep these tips in mind, you'll never lose a fight again.

Books, education and life

When I was kid, I was quite proud with the fact that I knew the names of all the 9 planets (yes it was 9 back then) in the Solar System. I read about them in books and one of my favourite book was the Oxford Children's Pocket Book of Facts. It's like a mini encyclopedia with lots of colorful illustration. 

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In high school, however, the only books that I read or rather forced to read are textbooks. Textbooks are these evil tomes of facts strung together in random order to vaguely resemble a story. Basically, reading a textbook is boring and that somehow made reading itself seemed boring too.

My passion for reading books was re-ignited with the release of The Da Vinci Code after I just entered the workforce. From there, I went on to non-fiction books like The Innovator's Dilemma, Crossing the Chasm and Permission Marketing. It's more fun when you get to choose what to read.

Some of these books literally changed my life and the best part is about reading is that the more you read, the more you want to. There is always more things to learn out there. Things you'll never learn in school.

So is it possible that the negative experience from reading textbooks in school is the reason many of us stop reading? Or could it be that the education system actually stifled our curiosity and creativity? Whatever the reason, I do hope everyone can rediscover their passion to read again. It shouldn't be that hard. After all, you are reading this post.

The Web never forgets

If you think women have good memory and seems to be able to recall even the tiniest of details, the web is probably a million times better at it. It remembers every post you blogged, every picture you uploaded and every status update you tweet. Google crawl and index everything on the web. The Wayback Machine archives web pages which allows you somewhat go back in time and as of 2009, has accumulated 3 petabytes (3 million gigabytes) of data.

Facebook is now the biggest photo site on the web followed Flickr and Photobucket. Geo-location on Twitter now tracks not only what you are doing now but also where you are.

People are now sharing almost every part of their life on the web sometimes with dire consequences. RobMeNow is a site created to warn us about the danger of sharing our current location to the world.

The web used to only contain histories and memories of our life. But with the recent rush of real-time technologies like Twitter and Foursquare, it is possible to find out up-to-date information about someone on the web.

Think twice before you post that status update about your vacation or that rant about your boss on the web. Think of your online presence as your personal brand and try not to taint it. Don't forget that the web never forgets.

Money as motivation

There is no doubt that in some point of your life, you may have been motivated by monetary rewards. Your parents might have offered a nice sum if you pass your exam or you reconsider your resignation after your manager give you a pay raise. But does this always work? Economists set up an experiment to see if offering to pay for blood donation effects our behavior. It turns out that the act of paying for blood donation somehow tainted this act of altruism and less people show up. In this case, monetary incentive actually reduces the performance of the activity.

If monetary incentive don't work all the time, what about monetary punishment. In another experiment, a kindergarten decided to fine parents who come late to pick up their child. Instead of reducing the number of children staying back late, it increases the amount of late parents. They can now be guilt-free by paying the fine.

Money being an extrinsic motivator, seem to back-fire in some cases. They say money can't buy happiness. It seems there is much more that money can't buy.

Seven Ways To Do More Great Work

In order to be indispensable, you have to do great work. Unless you are self-employed or work for a boss that understand this, it's pretty hard to have the time to get stuff that matters done. Most of the time, you'll be occupied with busywork. Luckily, Michael Bungay Stanier (founder of Box of Crayons) offer us 7 ways to stop us from doing the busywork and do more great work. He categorizes the work we do into 3 different types. Bad, Good and Great work. The key is to stop doing or reduce time spent on the bad and good work and focus on the great.

The brutal truth is that if everyone is happy, then you're probably not doing Great Work - Michael Bungay Stanier

Check out the manifesto here or download it to read it later.