4 Ways to Master Anything
Master in anything is when you make the basic perfectly before breaking it and make it yours. You might curious why I say like this.
Languages, sports, music, any type of knowledge or skills are needed time to master them. Before making the skill in your style, you need to achieve the skill basic first.
I train sword fighting as a sport. I have practiced for 2 hours a day. I spent a whole month learning footwork and pose before I was able to hold a training sword — not a real one for competition yet. A month with hitting air and getting the right pose of attack and defense.
Then, I was able to play with a dummy. I spent a total of 3 months in training alone before sparring and 1 more month with intensive training before the competition (Finally, I could hold a real one). That was a long period to cover the basics.
I spent 1 and a half years before developing my style of sword fighting.
Many people quite the training before they could play with a dummy doll. Because the training put a lot of effort into it before mastering the basics.
Here are methods to master something.
1. All is depended on each person.
What I mean here is how much each person put on doing something.
In the beginning, there might be requirements for the basic level guild or outline to lead the path. When you know how the path looks like, the rest is depending on how you do it.
100 Percent self-responsible
As mentioned by Jack Canfield in a book: how to get from where you are to where you want to be: the 25 principles of success (I read this in Thai translated version),
If you still blame others for every mistake you made, you still rely on the other factors, such as economic situation, unhealthy teammates or even bad weather. That means you are trying to make an excuse for your mistake.
“99 percent of failures are the ones who make excuses” — George Washington
“If you want to have your dream life, you have to be responsible 100 percent of your life” Jack Canfield stated.
As well as mastering something, you cannot make an excuse to stop doing something you would like to master or slow it down.
Being independent without complaining means that you can depend only on your ability to do something. If you would like to be successful or master some skills, being quiet, listening to feedback and rely on your abilities would assist you to measure your current level of skill you have and improve it.
“Work smarter, not harder”
The result of your work is depending on your hard work and doing it accurately. You cannot expect to be good at fencing if you are playing just computer fighting games. That means no matter how much you put in playing games and you will be good in the ring. Doing the right thing according to what they wanted is important.
If you know which part you needed to improve, just do it wisely. This will reduce the usage of time spent on the path you are going to walk, like using bicycles compared to going on foot at the same distance. Which one will arrive at the destination first?
These all depend on how each person does to achieve the master level skill.
2. Releasing and Acceptance
There always be a possibility of mistakes in any situation. No matter how many mistakes were made. Getting on without concerning about the mistakes would be difficult for the initial period. When people could not accept the truth that what they caused the problems, they could not do anything else than blaming themselves and stick with the past.
I know that it’s hard to forgive anything that is a mistake in the past after I told you to be responsible for what you did.
According to Buddhist words, “you must learn to let go. Release the stress. you were never in control anyway.”
There is no use in holding the mistake in your mind all the time. You cannot hold the whole world on your shoulders. Therefore, if the burden is not important, what you need to do is just let it go. If it’s too heavy, just take a break; take time and continue it after you rest, or ask for help.
Previously, I mention 100 percent self-responsible. That means not to blame the other; it does not mean not to ask for help.
If accepting the mistakes in the process is easy for you, improving the skill would be more effective. Less time concerning means less time-wasting on blaming yourself or others and could spend those time on improving.
Furthermore, having some mistakes in your life does not mean that there will not be a good thing in your life anymore. It is not the end of the world. “Mistake is a teacher,” A wise man said.
If I hold my coach’s complaints in my mind, I might quit in the first place and not be able to play with a dummy or even sparring with others.
Now, I quit complaining about surrounding things; I can accept what he told me as feedback and accept how I am (I am a 150 cm. girl and average height in Thai sword fencing woman is 160 cm.).
Even though I have a considerable number of disadvantages in the competition, I release what could be a problem in my mind and tended to look at the bright side of what I have instead. I decided to play as a short person do like my coach told me. The problem is no longer a problem anymore. I use it as my advantage of being a short person.
3. Have fun with it
To be good at something, you have to love it. If you are not, that is not different from forcing yourself to do something you hate all the time.
“If you can’t have fun, there is no point in doing it,” said Paul Walker, an actor.
As well as what you would like to master, having enjoyment in doing it will also help you get through problems and enjoy your life even more. Finding what you love in what you do and master it or making what you hate to what you love.
Positive Thinking
You could try to have positive thinking about what you do. Looking at the bright side of what you do.
If I say I hate getting hurt from playing sword, I am going to quit the training as soon as I could. But if I say I love sparring with others because it increases my adrenaline and improve my mood, I am going to stay and keep playing the sport.
Or you could change the word “I have to” to “I choose to”.
Rewarding Yourself
Anyone deserves a reward after finish a task. You could set small measurable goals in the process and give yourself anything in return after finishing it. There could be a cup of hot coffee or a vacation trip.
4. Be patient
According to the 10,000 hours rule of Malcolm Gladwell, if you would like to good at something you have not done before, you have to get thought at least 10,000 hours of hard-working to master the skill. The 10,000 hours would make the ability perfect.
Practice makes perfect.
There is nothing can be gained easily without any exchange. Mastering something will take time. Be patient does not just mean waiting without doing anything. It does mean that the person needs to do their best until it reaches the limit. There is a limitation as a human which could not be rush.
I have 2 hours a day of training. I had to hit the dummy minimum of 300 times a day; I spent 1 and a half years. I work hard to do it perfectly on a basic level.
It takes time.
“Rome was not built within a day”
I have to admit that even if I try to read for the final exam within a day, I will reach my limit as well. I could not do that rush. I still need more time to review the material. To pass the exam, I need more time to review each chapter, each topic understandingly or master in the subject.
These are several ways to master something that I think anyone could do it. Mastering something could be a difficult task, but if you keep fighting. The success is waiting ahead.
