How to become a master ?
Hierachy of competence
“To become a master at any skill, it takes the total effort of your: heart, mind, and soul working together in tandem.”
― Maurice Young
If you want to get paid... a lot.
You have to become an expert.
But how do you know if you are good enough?
By reaching the last level of the graph above: the unconscious competence.
To analyze the 4 stages.
I'll take my own example from my writing journey.
When I started out, I thought I was good. Really. I wrote lines, sounded good and thought I was good.
--> Unconcsious incompetence
The truth is, I was very bad.
As I continued to write, I realized how bad I was.
I could recognize patterns in my writing style.
Words I used too often, weaknesses.
I still sucked, but at least I knew I sucked and could improve.
--> Conscious incompetence
Over time, I improved my style but also the time I spend to write a post.
Right now, per week, I write :
- 2 threads
- a story on medium (don't miss the last one about the Polgar family, especially if you have kids )
- 3 telegram posts
- 5 newsletter posts
All this, often in one Sunday.
This same level of productivity would have taken me days a few years ago.
I also have a few articles that are getting rave reviews.
Recently I got "This is the best thing I've read this week."
I'm trying to improve the style, paying attention to length, transition.
I’m not at the stage of conscious competence yet, but I can feel that I'm getting there.
Years of effort and i’ll reach it.
The last level, I couldn't describe for writing but I've been lucky enough to excel in other dicisplines.
I would say it's just the ability to make the right decisions on instinct.
When I was playing at Hearhtsone at the highest European level.
Against weaker opponents, I knew I had already won the game after a few moves.
I knew that all the logical sequences gave me the win.
I didn't even have to think anymore, I knew what to play when.
I had mastered every aspect of the game from start to finish.
The level you are looking to reach is this one.
And the company will pay you a lot of money if you reach it.
How do you get there?
Practice every day.
Read about it, a lot, continuously.
Read the masters and experts.
Be humble in our search for perfection.
Knowing how to recognize that we are sometimes not as good as we think we are and correcting ourselves.
I wish you good luck in your quests.
And a great week.
See you tomorrow!