When you're done reading this, you'll have a better idea of what it means to be good at something in the only way that I think really counts: By using what you're good at to get where you want more efficiently and to be more energized when you get there. You'll have the tools to use this Mental Model to make a clear plan for something in your life that you're already good at in order to use it more effectively, or to get good at something that's a big part of your life right now. So let's get started:
When you're good at something you are equally good at stripping it of things that slow you down or even get in the way and you're especially good at getting what you want out of it.
So this is for those of you who realize while reading this that you're not good at things that you thought you were good at, and that the type of mastery that I am describing here is much more desirable to you than you knew before. So read on!
Imagine that you play poker five days a week in order to (this doesn't have to be a conscious goal) one day sit down in that big game and have the result of your life (You are getting all sorts of things out of playing five days of poker a week: Having a self image of being disciplined. Making your own livelihood which you used to be proud of. Getting better at something and learning something new every week which used to excite you. But that distant goal that so many people aim for and are at least semi-conscious of is a good and simple example, and it's going to make a good point).
So what are you going to get out of that day? A rush? A sense of pride and contentment? What I am arguing is that when you're good at playing poker five days a week, then that rush, that contentment and that sense of pride need to be part of many of your sessions, or the result of them. You're good at playing poker five days a week when you use playing poker five days a week to get where you want to get consistently. Not in the distant future, but every week, or at least every month.
The way I, and you if you're reading this with curiosity or at least some mild interest, used to look at "being good at something" is in terms of pure competence. I beat people at playing poker five days a week, so I am good at it. I play more consistently than most of you, I win more than most of you and my state of mind is generally better than yours. Those would be markers of being good at it, which used to leave that big factor out of the equation that is: What am I doing it for?
You can come up with your own examples now: When you're good at getting yourself into a good state of mind, then I can give you 10 minutes to do so and you'll usually manage it. When you have a good mindset then I can give you those same 10 minutes and you'd get yourself into the right frame of mind for many things that you know how to do. You're even better at it if you do it in five. And if you know how to be PUMPED rather than
whiney voice "feeling ok".
And this is exactly how you can use this new way of determining how good you are at those things that are important to you in the future:
(1) Make it conscious what you want to get out of it
(2) Apply a bit of pressure: Say that you want to get there within a day, or two days, or even a week.
(3) Adjust that timeframe as a benchmark of where you're at right now. If you want to play five days of poker a week in order to feel a sense of achievement and it took you two weeks of very disciplined play to feel that, then do it in one week and six days next time.
(4) Enjoy that fleeting moment when you get what you came for.
And have a good week. Not every week, but most weeks! Please do.