Mariana Trench and banjos

Keeping reaching for the light under the door

Author

Swanagan Ray
September 26, 2024

What is mastery?

To me it’s an intuition.

Internalizing skills to the point where they become second nature.

It’s the the process of developing Mariana-trench deep expertise and CEFR B2-level fluency through excruciatingly deliberate practice, experimentation, and constant learning.

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"Mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge."

Robert Greene

Mastery is a journey, not a destination.

There’s not really a fixed endpoint.

It’s a cyclical process of increasing your skill as you accept increasingly difficult challenges.

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"Mastery lies on an infinite continuum. As a result, we will never reach the end. We can, however, see to it that we are as far along that continuum as our circumstance allows."

Chris Matakas

This process is most difficult at the start but becomes easier and more pleasurable with time.

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"Ah, mastery… what a profoundly satisfying feeling when one finally gets on top of a new set of skills… and then sees the light under the new door those skills can open, even as another door is closing."

Gail Sheehy

Let’s use my musical journey as an example…

Level 1: When I first started playing banjo, I learned the mechanics of the instrument:

  • How to tune it

  • Which strings to play and when

  • Scales and modes

Level 2: Then I moved on to playing songs:

  • I learned 2-3 songs exactly like my uncle showed me

  • No improvisation, just rote memorization

Level 3: Playing with others

  • I learned rudimentary backup and support licks to play with other people

  • Still learned every song note-for-note

Level 4: Improvisation

  • Once I had learned a few songs in each type of broad category, then I started to see patterns (intuition)

  • Started playing songs I didn’t know, on the spot

Level 5: Mastery

  • As I continued learning harder and harder songs, modes, and scales, this pattern recognition became stronger

  • I started being able to play complex, improvised pieces on the the spot

  • Continue to learn complicated pieces that stretch my understanding

Even though I have “mastered” the banjo, there is a light under the door that I can always see as the last door closes.

And that will always be the case.

I love this feeling of exploration. It’s a skill that I will spend the rest of my life perfecting. There’s a sense of wonder in that for me.

As you build a brand online, you either need to establish mastery of a new skill, or translate a skill that you have already mastered to the world of the internet.

There’s no way around it.

You have to go through it.

There is no faking mastery.

The intuition you develop from getting in the reps creates a confidence.

And this confidence bleeds through into every interaction, post, and DM.

People can sense it.

And they want to be around it.

Especially if you are a cool person to be around.

What have you mastered?

Swanagan