Mastery in the Modern World

Balancing Skills, Purpose, and Adaptability

In Middle-Eastern cultures, humans (of all ethnicities and genders, etc) are believed to be “Ashraf-ul-Makhlooq” — which means The Crown Creation in Arabic. This is because we humans are said to be the only creatures bestowed with the freedom of choice, in addition to intelligence. (Now, whether or not freedom of choice is a real thing, is a discussion for another lengthy blog post. Whether or not intelligence was only bestowed upon humans has been under scrutiny too, and again, discussion for another lengthy blog post).

Artwork via Imagine.art

Mastery, if I may claim, is the pinnacle of Existence.

What Malcolm Gladwell said could take around 10,000 hours to achieve. What Robert Greene beautifully captures into four phases. A life not lived to the fullest is a life wasted.

Mastery is the culmination of finding something you’re good at and honing it to perfection. It’s the journey of self-discovery, of navigating through the vast ocean of uncertainty and finally anchoring on an island that is uniquely yours. When you master something, you’re not just good at it, you become it. It becomes a part of your identity, a part of your existence. It’s like meeting a person who believes in you, who sees you for who you truly are, and who cares about what you say and how you say it. Mastery is the ultimate act of self-love. It’s the process of accepting yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, and still choosing to strive for excellence. It’s the act of constructing a steadier sense of self, of becoming more confident in your abilities. So, in essence, mastery is not just about being the best at something. It’s about finding yourself, accepting yourself, and loving yourself. And that, I believe, is the pinnacle of human existence.

Men like Enzo Ferrari and Henry Ford gave cars to this world. Elon Musk gave electric cars to our polluted Mother Earth. Ada Lovelace gave the world the gift of programming. Though these individuals didn’t pull this off single-handedly, they were a powerful driving force behind these contributions.

They didn’t do this entirely as an act of charity either.

If they did so then perhaps their solutions would’ve been perfect. Their motivation behind building products that define life in the 21st Century may have been a pursuit of deeply satisfying creativity, in addition to money, and prestige. Or perhaps they felt the pain of proving themselves in the world. Whatever it was, it is not easy to comprehend in human language. What is much easier to understand is their process because it is something much more physical. It is always easier to describe an act than it is to define the philosophy behind it.

Robert Greene has made a truly important contribution to our world — he has compiled one book containing the process of 58 different Masters of their craft. The spectrums of human nature might be infinite, as one-process-that-fits-all has never been found. Perhaps because each crown creation possesses a unique proportion of various chemicals in the brain.

Much of modern research claims “Multi-Tasking” to be a cardinal sin for getting more done.

On the other hand, from my personal experience, I have noticed that having seven to eight items on my to-do list and switching tasks every hour or thirty minutes helps me get around five to six of those things done. The “focus on one thing at a time” only works in the sense that I do it for a limited amount of time, and mostly no more than an hour. I am from the early 21st-century generation who grew up with the internet so my interest in a task does not last too long. As I mentioned the Ivy Lee strategy in my previous blog, listing down six action items for the next day ahead does give you a basket of tasks to choose from, should you get bored of the task you are currently engaged in, you’ll have plenty more tasks to choose from. However, you could be crossing many things off your list but if they lie in the urgent but not important or the non-urgent, non-important block in the important-urgency matrix, then you may have had an efficient day but I wouldn’t say you were very effective on such a day.

While petty and menial errands are an essential part of everyone’s day (unless you’re that rich that you have assistants for everything):

It is always a good idea to incorporate tasks in your day that fuel your soul with creative energy, makes your inner-child happy and leads you to your unique path to mastery of the art you were born to perhaps one day re-define.

You might endlessly ask yourself, what is my Life’s Task? Mastery’s first chapter is dedicated to that but when I was reading it as a student and had a young teenage mind, finding just “one” true calling seemed impossible. There is a vast variety of fields out there, each with its own niche. Even with all the guidelines in the book, I just didn’t feel like dedicating five years, let alone my entire lifetime, to one specific art. So, what did I do? I just did whatever came my way. My seniors told me to do so and so course and I did do some of them, (it was so boring, took every inch of my willpower to do them but as a student what else can you put on your resume?). I reached out to several companies for different roles, like project coordinator, technical writer, management trainee, data scientist, software engineer, AI engineer, to name a few. I ended up getting internships as an AI engineer but my first full-time was as a Data Scientist at a B2B startup. The startup was focusing on grocery at that time and never in a million years I had imagined analyzing data of lentils and wheat flour sales. I mean I was learning some invaluable skills but I used to find it very funny. Right now, I do data science in the telecommunications industry. I am not passionate about improving telecommunication services or revolutionizing the B2B landscape but here I am, learning constantly from some commendable talent, polishing my soft and technical skills with every task and meeting.

As a student, I worked on honing whatever skill I could from Coursera, and when opportunities opened up, I grabbed them. Opportunities have a very short window and have very specific requirements. You must add to your arsenal as many skills and experience as you can. You have to be profoundly patient because as the cliche says good things take time. You need to move swiftly because opportunities tend to be like grains of sand, and will fall right from your hands before you can even blink. One can only avail opportunities if they are well-prepared and can act quickly.

You don’t have to worry too much about narrowing down the one art you were born to master. In our rapidly changing world, skills that generate money tend to evolve too. That is one of the reasons why I couldn’t get myself to fixate on one skill. I would rather suggest discovering your one true calling, slowly, gently, and thoughtfully. Lay your hands on whatever apprenticeship you can, just make sure it is intense and the people you will be working with and working for excel at whatever they do. Throw yourself into an intense apprenticeship, wherever you can find one, and life will reveal to you its multi-faceted complexities, realities, and dynamics you didn’t even know existed will unfold in front of you.

To reap the sweetest possible fruits of your rigorous internship/job, you’ll have to learn to focus on the task at hand. It takes more discipline than I expected to filter out the noise and focus on the task you have been given. For example, take the task of reading a research paper. It gets very tempting to start looking into the referenced material, the related presentation, and the building-block concept videos, and one ends up engaging in every aspect of the research area except reading that one main paper. Here is a piece from Marcus Aurelius, eloquently describing the nuanced challenges of focusing on the current action item:

“At every moment keep a sturdy mind on the task at hand, as a Roman and human being, doing it with strict and simple dignit, affection, freedom and justice — giving yourself a break from all other considerations. You can do this if you apporach each task as if it is your last, giving up every distraction, emotional subversion of reason, and all drama, vanity and complaint over your fair share. You can see how mastery over a few things makes it possible to live an abundant and devout life.” [Meditations, 2.5]

Ivy Lee’s simple strategy of listing down the six most important things to do on a prior evening can always help you define the action items that are worth filtering out everything else. And if you get bored of that task, which you probably will after roughly 45 to 60 sixty minutes, don’t be afraid to switch to another imperative task or even a menial errand.

The Future of Mastery in a World That Keeps Evolving

Time moves forward, and the environment evolves with it. Humanity has witnessed transformative eras like the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the Internet, social media, and now, Artificial Intelligence. Each of these epochs demanded its own skillsets. In earlier times, mastering a single craft — whether painting, writing, sculpting, or singing — could secure success and recognition. Today, however, technology underpins nearly every field, demanding a multidisciplinary approach to thrive.

To remain relevant in this fast-changing world, we need both hard and soft skills. Hard skills, such as coding, data analysis, or prompt engineering, require active practice and continuous refinement. On the other hand, soft skills like emotional intelligence, clear communication, and empathy are equally essential, enabling collaboration and adaptability in diverse environments.

However, mastering hard skills comes with limitations — time, energy, and focus are finite resources. Choosing the right skills to master is critical. This process involves understanding market demands, aligning them with personal interests, and considering long-term value. Once chosen, honing these skills requires deliberate practice, leveraging techniques like imitation, repetition, and feedback to engage and finetune mirror neurons for better learning and execution.

By combining strategic skill selection with consistent practice and emotional intelligence, you can navigate the complexities of the modern world and position yourself for success.