Choose Mastery
I’m in San Diego this week attending a five-day seminar called InfusionSoft Mastery with Tyler Garns.
While I’m here, I’ve been working on the design of the Aligned Action Mastery Program that I’m rolling out this fall. I also spent some time with a good friend of mine who is a serious Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.
So the topic of Mastery is front and center in my mind.
What is Mastery?
Mastery is defined as comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment, and also control or superiority over someone or something.
How do you get it?
You start by making a decision to choose it. And then you never turn back.
InfusionSoft is full-featured sales and marketing software automation system for small businesses. It handles customer relationship management, email marketing and e-commerce.
I’ve used InfusionSoft in my business for a couple of years. (If you are receiving my newsletter, it is sent out via Infusionsoft.)
But I’ve never really mastered it.
Why?
Because I never decided to.
Until earlier this summer, when I was on my vacation and I received an invitation from Tyler to his training event.
I realized that it was time to make a decision. Either master this system or get rid of it. I’ve tried to outsource parts of it to various vendors over the past few years, but I have never been satisfied with the results. I realized that to really grow my business I need to master this technology and make it an integral part of my daily operations.
Mastery is about integrating things into your daily operations. If it is not part of your daily routine, you really have no hope of ever mastering anything.
Steve Chandler taught me the five levels of mastery — they apply to any field of learning. The five levels are:
Hate –> Dislike –> Neutral –> Like –> Love
Often we start out hating something. Like cooking or sales. We hate it, but we do it because if we don’t, we starve. Then we graduate to doing it, but with severe dislike. Then we get to neutral — we can take it or leave it. Then we like it. Eventually we love it.
That was my path with sales. I really disliked it, so I avoided it. But that path was one of looming disaster. So ten years ago I made a decision to master sales. Now I love it. I love the process of listening to a client, finding the truth in their situation, figuring out whether or how I can help them, and then allowing them to make a decision to invest in and receive that help, or not. That’s all sales really is. I love learning about the dynamics of sales every day.
Similarly, after several years of martial arts study, I had developed formidable skills. Yet I still hated being on the ground. I felt powerless. I made a decision to master the ground game, which put me on the path of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Now as a student, I spend a lot of time in very inferior positions on the ground — and love it. While I am far from mastering jiu-jitsu, being on the ground is no longer a point of fear.
True mastery always starts with a decision.
A decision to choose mastery. To get on the path.
One cool thing that I realized about the five stages of mastery. You don’t have to go through the five stages if you don’t want to.
You can choose to jump ahead to the love stage. Right now.
Decide to love the thing you are tolerating. Because true love is a decision, not a feeling. Not like a fleeting romance, but a deep abiding love, where you accept a person and cherish all of their quirks and nuances.
After several years of disliking InfusionSoft, I decided to jump straight to the love stage by choice. So I’m here immersing myself in all of its nuances. Frustrating and confusing at times, yes, but something much bigger is at stake here.
What about you?
What if you really hate sales and decided right now that you love it?
What if you really decided to love the business aspects of the work you are here to do?
What if you choose mastery right now?
