In this post, I\u2019m going to share a story that will illustrate how you can master just about anything you choose to master. \u00a0The good news is that mastering skills<\/strong> is something you can do. \u00a0There is a process to get from novice to master. \u00a0The bad news is that there are no short cuts.<\/p>\n \u00a0It is good to have an end to journey toward; \u00a0but it is the journey that matters, in the end.<\/p>\n –\u00a0Ursula K. Le Guin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Jeff Olson, a hugely successful business executive, and now head of Nerium, a company marketing a skin care product, wrote a fabulous book titled \u2018The Slight Edge\u2019. \u00a0Below is a graphic he\u2019s created that tells a profound story in itself. \u00a0 His book delves into the concept of success, and mastering skills, and it has had an influence on my approach to my daily life.<\/p>\n Mastery is NOT an exalted state that lies at the end of the path; \u00a0it is a state of mind that lies at the very beginning.<\/p>\n – Jeff Olson<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I\u2019ve learned so much from so many people over the years, and there are a few core concepts that you can boil it all down to. \u00a0Jeff Olson has a good metaphor for one of the key concepts to understand when it comes to mastering skills<\/em> and mastering your life.<\/p>\n When you were a baby, up until you were about a year old, you traveled around your limited environment on your hands and knees, crawling. \u00a0No one around you was crawling though. \u00a0And at some point, your mind recognized this and the thought came into your head that perhaps you should give that \u2018walking thing\u2019 a try.<\/p>\n So that was a moment in time that changed you forever. \u00a0In an instant, you decided you needed to walk. \u00a0A decision was made, and you were going to walk. \u00a0You didn\u2019t know how you were going to do it, you didn\u2019t know how long it would take, you didn\u2019t know anything about it other than one thing. \u00a0That you were going to do it. \u00a0The decision was made that you were going to walk.<\/p>\n So you grabbed onto the side of the couch near by, and you pulled yourself up to try to stand up and walk. \u00a0Literally, on a step by step basis, you were going to do whatever it took to walk. \u00a0So as you stood there, wobbly and unsure, trying to get some balance before taking your first step, you let go of the couch, perhaps by accident, and \u2018Blam\u2019, you hit the floor. \u00a0You failed to walk.<\/p>\n It may have been immediately afterwards, or a few minutes later or the next day, but you tried it again. \u00a0You grabbed on to something nearby to pull yourself up to your feet, and again and again you fell down, until, eventually, you were able to balance yourself, and stay on your feet. \u00a0You were standing up.<\/p>\n We have to understand that the world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. \u00a0The hand is more important than the eye\u2026. \u00a0The hand is the cutting edge of the mind.<\/p>\n – Jacob Bronowski from the Little Zen Companion<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Standing shakily, as a little baby, you shifted your weight to one foot, and reached out the other foot in front of you, modeling all the big people you had been watching. \u00a0As you tried to take your first step, you fell to the floor. \u00a0No less epic than Neil Armstrong taking a step onto the moon, you dreamed an epic dream and simply decided you were going to walk. \u00a0So you stood up again, and fell again\u2026 And again, and again, and again\u2026<\/p>\n You then stood up, holding your mom or dad\u2019s finger, and with the look of determination on your face, you took a wobbly step, and then another one. \u00a0Eventually, mom pulled her finger away and you took a few steps towards her all by yourself, walking into your mom\u2019s arms as she grabbed you and kissed you and hugged you. \u00a0You celebrated that wonderful moment, because now you were walking.<\/p>\n As a baby, do you think you ever considered quitting!<\/strong> \u00a0Of course you didn\u2019t. \u00a0Think about this. \u00a0What would you have done\u2026 Tell yourself maybe you just were cut out for walking, and you would crawl the rest of your life. \u00a0CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF IN ANY WAY, EVER, ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CRAWLING RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WALKING WAS JUST TOO TOUGH?<\/strong><\/p>\n Assuming you have two legs and don\u2019t have a crippling disease, the answer of course is comical. \u00a0No human being capable of walking physically would feel too mentally challenged to walk, and thus crawl in their suit and tie across the office to the boss\u2019 office, or crawl out of the car into the gym to watch their son play basketball.<\/p>\n Constantly falling down was painful, and you looked pretty sill I\u2019m sure. \u00a0But you don\u2019t quit, because successful people never quit. \u00a0They realize each action is just a form of feedback to learn what to do, or at least what not to do next. \u00a0As a baby, you were guaranteed to succeed. You were born to succeed. \u00a0Your human nature is to succeed. \u00a0Babies are masters of their environment and they continue to move forward, literally step by step, until they have mastered the skill.<\/p>\n Some where along the way, we become too grown up, too cool, too fearful, too sure we would never succeed, so we stop taking baby steps. \u00a0We become so sure we can\u2019t succeed we refuse to let yourselves fail a few times first. \u00a0We give up the secret to mastering skills, which is taking baby steps and be willing to fail our way to success.<\/p>\n Some how you forgot what you instinctively knew as a baby. \u00a0You knew that anything was possible, and it was simple to get what you wanted. \u00a0You simply took baby steps, day after day, consistently, until you mastered the skill, or reached the goal.<\/p>\n It is that basic, that simple, yet as we get older we become certain that things are not possible. \u00a0We choose to believe that \u2018this won\u2019t work for me\u2019.<\/p>\n There is absolutely nothing preventing you from simply dreaming big again, and then deciding to take one little step at a time towards that dream. \u00a0Nothing is in the way except our limiting beliefs.<\/p>\n 1 \u2013 Dream big and write down with complete clarity and specificity what you want your life to be like. \u00a0Be very specific, see it, feel it, smell it, hear it, speak of it in the present tense, and document it.<\/p>\n\n
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I\u2019m going to paraphrase his story he called Baby Steps.<\/h3>\n
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The metaphor is clear for mastering skills, but if we delve in a bit deeper, hopefully this will resonate with you like it does with me.<\/h3>\n
When you were trying to walk, did you spend more time falling down or standing up? \u00a0Unless you were supremely gifted, you spent a lot more time falling down and failing your way to success. \u00a0Each attempt you made was a step down the road of mastery.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Can you imagine yourself still crawling across the floor now like a baby?<\/h2>\n
Do you realize that not choosing to do what it takes to have what you want is IDENTICAL to you crawling.<\/h2>\n
The sad and simple truth about why you are not living an abundant, glorious life.<\/h2>\n
The Great News Is We Can All Be Babies Again<\/h2>\n
Here Is How To Turn Your Life Around In 90 Days<\/h2>\n