The Paradox of Mastery: Embrace Boring Work
Mastery requires a substantial and sustained investment, often tedious, dull, and monotonous. That's why there are few masters of anything.
Welcome to The Art of Becoming, a newsletter about finding value in adversity and embracing discomfort. Each week, I share an idea for finding fulfillment and being more resilient and joyful in your life and business.
And it starts with you and me embracing discomfort.
I hope you join me.
At a glance:
Creating mastery is boring, and that’s a good thing.
Quote on why being an underdog is a good thing.
Whether mastering a new skill, winning a competition, or achieving a long-term goal, the journey is paved by monotony, repetition, and sheer effort.
Mastery and success are rarely byproducts of spontaneous bursts of inspiration or talent.
Winning is forged in the less glamorous crucible of routine and disciplined practice.
This leads to an interesting paradox: the essence of winning or achieving mastery is underpinned by doing dull, repetitive, and boring work.
Winning, gaining mastery over anything, is boring. And that’s a good thing.
Ninety-nine percent of the world (maybe the percentage is more like 98.34529443091008%, but stick with me) does not, or rather, will not put in the work, time, and consistent effort to become a master at anything.
We see people like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant win championships, but we don’t see the hours they spend in the weight room, the thousands of free throw shots and drills they practice every day, even before the season starts so that they can be the best.
Winning doesn’t happen on game day. It started days, months, and years before their first championship.
It is the culmination of every unseen, tedious task and every repetition embraced in practice. Success is not found in the spotlight’s warm glare but in doing the work everyone thought was too boring or hard.
Mastery requires a substantial and sustained investment.
Kobe Bryant made that investment his entire life. Before he won on the court, he practiced for countless hours. His day started at 4 am, and when his teammates and competition were sleeping, he worked out, practiced shots, and did drills.
As a pro, he practiced the same drills he did as an eight-year-old. He understood success came from practicing the fundamentals over and over again.
Are you that committed? If not, can you be?
Progress starts in the mundane, and often, there are no immediate signs of improvement. This preparation phase is critical, yet most people lose their way.
Boring is hard, and most people want to win now. They say they don’t have time. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James did not win by one practice alone. There were thousands of practices, and most days, they were alone.
It’s challenging to find motivation in the mundane, see the value in the invisible, notice incremental improvements, and maintain focus when the end seems distant or uncertain.
But if you want to be a master at anything, that’s what you need to do. You need to love boring work.
Mastery is built in moments of seemingly dull effort.
It grows from your ability to adapt, innovate, and excel under varying circumstances. This depth of understanding only comes from the repetitive practice that many hate.
How do you reconcile the paradox of finding motivation in the mundane?
The key lies in shifting your perspective.
Learn to appreciate the process, not just the outcome. Find joy in the process. Do the work.
Set micro-goals. Acknowledge and reward the effort you put into repetitive practice.
Cultivate a mindset that enjoys putting the reps. Enjoy the miles and not just the competition.
Develop a daily routine of incorporating incremental improvements into your life. See practice, the reps you put in, the miles you run, or the words you write as a gift rather than a chore.
Embrace the idea that the boring aspects of practice are not just the stepping stones to mastery but are, in fact, the very essence of it.
The discipline, resilience, and focus you develop transcend any skills. You’re preparing for challenges beyond the game, past making money, writing books, or any other goal you’re working on.
You’re building a mindset geared toward continuous improvement and overcoming any obstacle.
The paradox of winning or mastery lies in your commitment to put in the reps, to run the miles, and to do boring work.
That commitment is what separates the dedicated from the merely interested.
Are you committed to being a master? Then, put in the reps. Do boring work.
Quote for everyone who feels the world is against them
"There's nothing better than being the underdog. The more people count me out, the more I count myself in. I don’t like to show all my cards too early, and that gives me two distinct advantages: my opponents often get the wrong read on me, and I push myself longer and harder. When it looks like you should pack it in, but you still dig in anyway, you also pick up a lot of support."— T. Boone Pickens
Everyone loves an underdog, but only when they win. Don’t wait for anyone to join you, say they believe in or invest in you. Before anyone buys into you, you must first buy into yourself.
Thanks for reading. This week, commit to doing boring work. Do what no one else is willing to do. Be a master.
Love to you and yours,
Michael