Mastery: The Infinite Game

Simon Sinek recently interviewed Mike Gervais for his A Bit of Optimism podcast. Mike is a psychologist who has worked extensively with wealthy individuals and high-performance athletes that include Olympians and the Seattle Seahawks organization. These clients are people who demand exceptional performance from themselves both physically and mentally.

While he may not speak directly to those who are training martial arts, many of the lessons he shares are applicable to people who want to obtain the highest levels of personal performance but are also concerned with mastery. This will undoubtedly include a wide range of people just beginning martial arts and those who have practiced for years or even decades.

The High-Performance Athlete

Mike defines high-performance as being able to execute on demand. A high-performance athlete will be able to execute without mistake even under the most miserable circumstances. For example, a high-performance quarterback will be able to hit a precise target 20 yards down field even when he’s being rushed by a pair of monstrous defensive ends and a linebacker.

Making the throw is not simply due to talent. It is about being cool under pressure, practicing the throw thousands of times to get the mechanics exactly right, and being able to modify trajectory or footing or positioning but still being able to hit a bullseye. In many ways, it requires as much mental focus as it does physical ability.

A high-performance athlete knows the process that will get them the goal they want, and they spend years perfecting that process.

The Difference Between High-Performance and Mastery

High-performance is fundamentally goal oriented, and high-performance people can be trained. They can be coached. They can be tutored. Even a child with limited natural talents can receive enough instruction to become a high-performance adult if they’re willing to put in the hours. Training to be a high-performance athlete focuses on understanding the many “hows” of a sport or martial art (How do you throw the ball better? How do you perform an arm bar with fewer steps?).

High-performance training places far less emphasis on the “whys” that explain the inner workings of the martial art or sport. This is the realm of mastery.

A person who is interested in mastery is interested in mastery of self and mastery of craft. The focus is less on process or knowing how to follow each step to get a desired result and is about understanding the principles that guide the process. This results in a more organic, artistic ability to produce something on-demand.

The Story of the Sword Maker

While in Japan, Simon visited one of the last samurai sword makers left in the country. There are perhaps only 100 people still producing these kinds of swords.

What was interesting was that this sword maker did not come from a family of swordsmen or blacksmiths. Neither he nor his family had any background in the craft. He had been a person with a desk job and some stability in his life, but he did not feel fulfilled. Making swords made him feel fulfilled. It gave him purpose.

He ultimately decided to abandon the desk job and the comfort it afforded, and he has since dedicated himself to making samurai swords. He has been doing it now for thirty years. While Simon was visiting him in his shop, the sword maker said, “One day I hope to be good at doing this.”

This drives to the heart of mastery. He does not think he’s bad at what he’s doing, Simon says. “He just knows he could be better.”

Mastery and the Purpose-Driven Life

For anyone who has spoken with a high-level black belt, this should sound very familiar. They are oftentimes their own biggest critics because they are chasing a perfected form rather than a specific result. Even if they defeat their opponent, they recognize that there are tiny refinements that could be made to make their technique better.

With the pursuit of mastery comes a thirst to understand a chosen craft, whether it is sword making or jiu-jitsu. From this pursuit, one can derive a sense of purpose. Feeling that sense of purpose allows you to anchor yourself to something larger, whether it’s making samurai swords or exploring the smallest nuances of jiu-jitsu. It becomes far more rewarding than just producing a sword or winning a fight.