Expert

When I was in Vancouver, I would often get into discussions with one of my mentors about how someone becomes "expert" at something.

I personally find this topic very interesting. Watching a master practice his/her craft is a wonderful thing. I remember when I was a younger, I used to think that perhaps I just hadn't tried or found the activity that I had a natural gift at. Perhaps on some level, I've tried so many random things in the hopes that I would stumble on my one true gift.

It's such a naive view of mastery. No one just falls into it! Studies show a common denominator: effort! 10 000 hours they say!

My mentor in Vancouver used to talk to me about this slow progression from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence. We talked less about the mechanism that underlies this progression.

My father's advice was always to do something you love. The interesting thing being that you tend to like things more as you get better at them. Like a lot of my Dad's advice, it is deeply truthful, but hard to act upon.

My views on how one becomes an expert at something have changed over time. I wonder if they've changed in relation to my own expertise? In any case, if some youngling out there were to ask me my opinion, on how one becomes a master at something, here's what I currently think:


Find your thing. Then practice it thoughtfully and humbly OVER and OVER and OVER again.