What is mastery?
You probably don't know what mastery is, even though the name gives you some idea and feeling of what it might mean. This is because there are two other similar words, even of the same origin, which are more widely known: master and conductor. The first is someone who possesses more advanced knowledge, who is endowed with exceptional knowledge, competence, or talent, and is also the individual who teaches. The second is the music master, composer or conductor of an orchestra, choir, or band. All three originate from the Latin word "Magister", which means "head, director, teacher", i.e. someone who teaches and leads others. Magister, on the other hand, comes from another Latin word "Magis", which means "the most, the greatest, the best", and is associated with those who know and can do more. Mastery, following the same line of reasoning, by definition is expertise, excellence and perfection in the accomplishment of something, wisdom, deep knowledge of a certain subject, matter or art. Its meaning, however, is much broader and more sublime; in a simple way, mastery can be summed up as a feeling of competence and self-accomplishment.
In a practical sense, at the end of a cycle, be it a day, a month, or a year, you feel proud of what you've achieved, you feel fulfilled with everything you've produced, you feel that that period, and that effort, was worthwhile. This feeling of being rewarded for your dedication and that you are moving towards where you want to be is extremely important for your personal fulfillment, especially in the long term. I'm not saying that all your days or hours need to be productive, in the usual sense of the word, because there needs to be balance, and rest is fundamental. I'm saying that, as much as possible, your actions need to have a purpose in line with your life goals. Goals and purpose, however, are subjects for another day. Today I want to help you improve if you've identified yourself with the situation of living on automatic, procrastinating and feeling that time goes by super-fast without you being able to do the things you'd like to. Is this your case?
First of all, in order to get things done, you need to define what those things are. Relying solely on your brain is not a good idea. As well as generating anxiety, when you keep thinking about what's going on in your head, the chances of forgetting something are enormous, which hinders your development. So, the golden tip is MAKE A MASTER LIST! A master list helps you remember the things you want to do and helps you accomplish them. There is research from Harvard Business School that proves that just writing down your goals makes them more visual and increases your chances of achieving them. There are only 7 instructions for the master list to work well:
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Put on the list what you want to do. You know those things you think "I have to do it" and never do? Or the things you want to do but never have the time? That's exactly what you're going to do. Use an action verb in all your list items.
For example: sort out photos to develop, sort out clothes to donate, research something, read this blog (lol), book a dentist, text your friend, take a course you really want to take? These are the things that, if you don't define them clearly, you'll stop doing, because there's nothing forcing you to do them.
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Don't include your obligations. Not even what is already part of your routine. This doesn't include work tasks that you have to hand in, mandatory events that have already been scheduled, or classes and courses. Those are your commitments, you put them in your schedule! What you're already going to do anyway, which is part of your routine, doesn't have to go on the list either. Generally, if a task has a deadline, it doesn't go on the list, unless it's a deadline you set yourself, like donating the clothes before Christmas.
For example, brushing your teeth doesn't need to go on the list, because you never forget to do it, it's already automatic in your life (I hope it is, right?). Neither does attending a meeting, you're already going to attend because it's compulsory. As for going to the gym, you can join one or not. If you're paying for it and hardly ever go, you can go until you get into the habit, but if you always go regularly, it doesn’t make the cut.
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Write everything down, everything. From the most basic things to the routine ones. Remember to put down the things you can't forget to do or that you really want to do but aren't doing yet.
For example: do you need to change the hand towel in the bathroom and keep forgetting? Write it down. You want to buy a car, but you're procrastinating? Write it down.
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Only list things that are possible, the list will be your guide through life. The idea here is not to make unrealistic goals or list distant dreams, but practical things that you want to achieve or accomplish, preferably in the short term. Obviously, these need to be things that are within your control.
For example, don't put "become an astronaut", "move to Dubai"... Unless it's really within your reality. Nor will you put "retire" if you're not even in the job market yet or if you're at the beginning of your professional life.
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Leave the list in an easily accessible place. You need to have regular contact with it, there's no point in writing it down in a place you'll never look at again. Also remember that the list will grow, so set aside a reasonable amount of space for it. If you're away from the list when you remember something, write it down on your cell phone, in your hand or on a napkin and then transfer it to the list.
E.g. notepads, task apps, agenda, board in your room, diary.
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Mark or delete the tasks you've done. It doesn't matter whether you've opted for physical paper or apps, check off, cross out or erase the writing. As much as it may seem like an irrelevant detail, there is a lot of satisfaction, and even pleasure, involved in marking an activity as done. If the mere fact of doing something you want is not enough of a reward, you can think of other rewards, of course aligned with the difficulty of the task.
For example, there are several applications that have a checklist function (I'll talk about some of them here on the blog) such as Trello, Evernote and even Google Sheets. If you're someone who prefers the pleasure of crossing things off, paper is an excellent option, and you can have a special space for your list.
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Choose a frequency for checking the list and changing the list. Checking is reading through all the activities, so you don't forget any. I suggest doing this daily, at most weekly. If you're deleting the items that have been done, there's no need, but if you're just marking or crossing them off, it's more organized to rewrite the list with only the tasks that have yet to be done.
Ex: If you choose single sheets of paper, when you run out of space you can move the remaining tasks to a new one and continue to complete them. If it's in an app where you can hide the ones you've already done, you may not even need to change them, or maybe you can change them once a year to give them a refresh.
Secondly, but no less important, the tip is to DEFINE YOUR DAILY TASKS! Once you've listed all the activities you want to do or actions you want to take, all that's left is to define the details and stay focused. This tip is also very simple and serves to make sure that the list gets off the paper (or the app lol) and that you feel the satisfaction of the achievements. Follow the instructions:
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Set only three tasks a day! Write down the three things you have to do that day so that, when the day is over, you feel like you've accomplished your mission.
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Again, only write down what you can! Don't write down that you're going to write an entire 200-page book, unless you've done it before and know you can. Remember your obligations for the day and the remaining time available for the three tasks when you select them. You need to get to the end of the day with all three tasks done! Always!
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A mandatory commitment is not a daily task either! You don't want to write down "go to work" or "attend classes” unless you're missing all your classes and it's really your goal not to miss them this time. Daily tasks can include obligations whose deadlines are still far away, for example paying the electricity bill, if every month you always put it off until the day it's due and this time you want to pay it before then, yes, it can be a daily task.
NOTE: If you want, you can even write down five daily tasks, but three main ones and two secondary ones. If you do this, you'll only do the fourth and fifth tasks after completing the first three, so prioritize. If the day ends with three tasks done, the feeling must be that the day was good and, if you do more, that it was even more productive.
The aim of this exercise is to accomplish three tasks every day. If you're not succeeding, there are two options: either you're listing them wrong, in which case go back to the instructions and follow them; or you're not really focused and dedicated.
The ideal is to set the day's tasks every day, either the day before or early in the morning, but if you prefer, you can also do all the week's tasks once a week. Use your master list and other commitments to organize your daily tasks. All your master list activities should gradually make their way into your daily tasks. However, a task from the master list doesn't necessarily become just a daily task, in fact most will need to be broken down into smaller activities. Buying a car, for example, can be broken down into researching the price, comparing models, going to dealerships, taking a test drive, analyzing the options, making the purchase.
Each person needs to adapt their daily tasks to their routine, their life, and their situation. It doesn't have to be anything big, it could be making your bed or washing your hair, especially now that many people have lost some habits during quarantine. What you need to think about is: what do I want to do to be satisfied at the end of the day? Is it cooking something? Is it downloading music? Is it calling a relative? Is it studying what I've always wanted to learn? Is it reading that website I opened and forgot about?
With these two tips I'm sure you'll be able to increase your mastery of life and take several steps towards your goals. Better still, with the pleasure of doing what you want and feeling proud of yourself for the journey. I've made some templates, both for the master list and for organizing daily tasks, to help you have no excuse not to start applying the tips today. After all, tomorrow never comes and your life depends on your action!
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Tell me, do you ever feel that you've managed to accomplish all the tasks you've set yourself? Are you often satisfied with your achievements? Be sure to follow the tips and let me know what results you get. ;)