In which Wolf reveals the single most important tool for improving your life or business. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/wMVGAeyQHJo
If you've been listening to me for awhile then you know I often touch on the topic of "mastery" and the idea that "paths of mastery" are paths of lifelong growth and learning that you can step onto at any time, and you can take them as far as you wish, but the path itself never ends.
When you watch a master perform, whether it's a master violinist, or juggler, or software developer, or entrepreneur, it's kind of like watching magic. If you go beyond a mere enjoyment of the performance, you might ask, "How did they ever get to be so good?" You might even long to be great at something yourself.
In Star Wars 4: A New Hope (what my generation grew up just calling Star Wars), we hear Luke Skywalker refusing his Call To Adventure:
(Clip plays)
He says, "Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now... It's all such a long way from here."
When we're called to adventure, our minds start throwing all sorts of resistance at us. One of the most common tactics we use on ourselves is, "It's such a long way from here."
It all looks so impossible. It's like facing a thousand foot tall cliff and being asked to just leap up to the top. It simply can't be done. And yet you can't deny that throughout history people have done amazing things with their lives. They seem to have jumped up mountains.
So I want to offer you two secrets that will enable you to achieve success in your life that appears magical to others.
The first is to realize that it's not one mountain, it's a whole range of mountains.
Many people fixate on a single mountain peak, like the mountain called "getting rich". There's nothing wrong with money, but you're actually more likely to gain wealth by living a rewarding life than you are by merely setting your sights on money specifically. Why? Because the orientation of living a rewarding life is going to lead you in directions that create value for others. And when you create value for others, you are more likely to be rewarded in many ways, including cash.
In the movie Ratatouille, Remy the rat dreams of becoming a great chef, but struggles with the fact that he is, after all, a rat, and that rats survive by stealing food. His role model Chef Gusteau appears to him at his lowest point and scolds him for stealing food, then reassures him:
(Clip plays)
"Food will come, Remy. Food always comes to those who love to cook."
It's only once that Remy realizes that what matters is his love of cooking, and not just eating food, that the sort of opportunities he desires actually start to open up.
The second secret is to realize that every mountain has a path. Your perspective right now might be that the mountain is a sheer cliff. But walk around the mountain and you'll discover that the back side is actually a slope with many paths leading toward the top. And then your strategy stops being an impossible leap straight up, and becomes just taking one step, and then the next, and then the next...
In Japanese, the term Kaizen means to "improve" or "make better." The way Kaizen is practiced is to continuously make many small improvements, with the understanding that many small improvements lead, over time, to massive improvements that to outsiders might look... magical.
In fact, trying to change too many things at one is generally a recipe for failure. New Year's Resolutions often go this way: we promise ourselves that we're going to straighten out our diet, and our finances, and our exercise plan, and maybe start a new relationship... and then we end up demoralized as our good intentions collapse all around us. The problem isn't that we can't eventually have all of these things, but when we spread our energy and attention too thin, nothing really deep can happen.
The key is to pick one thing at a time to improve in your life, and get that improvement solidly locked in before moving on to the next.
Your life is an unfolding story. You're the main character, the hero, but you don't know the major plot points, you don't know the end. So pick a mountain, find a path, and just start climbing. As you climb, you'll find better air, more interesting scenery, and you'll meet a better quality of people who are also climbing along with you. It's a mountain range with many summits, and there's a good chance you won't end up where you thought you were going. That's fine. Just keep climbing, and I promise, the view will be worth it.
But what do you think? Let me know in the comments, and you can also join my community by emailing me at wolfpack@bewareofwolf.com. I read every email I receive, and respond to many.
See you tomorrow!