Company Of One

Note to self. Company Of One by Paul Jarvis has been a true treasure trove of good advice for me in my current situation. It was a huge relieve to read that I'm not the only one walking this path. It also really takes the pressure off of having to conform to common practices in business. It's jam packed with good information and mind opening thoughts so I'll need to give it a second and maybe even a third listen.

For now I just want to note down one thing that stuck out to me today and that I have been thinking about a lot after hearing it.

Passion follows mastery... and not the other way around

At least in most cases... In other words... the advice to " follow your passion" and the search for it can leave one confused, lost and unhappy. This sounds depressing but really it is not. Because it takes the pressure off of having to find "a passion" and instead tells you to just get good at something instead. I find this makes things much simpler.

Could one go one step further and say mastery follows purpose? As in having a clear goal? Something that one wants to achieve can give one purpose that then leads to the mastery of the skill needed to achieve that goal.

And now we've come full circle. Back to the advice that lifestyle gurus commonly give: "You need to have a goal!" ... But I like the mastery angle. That was something I had sort of known but not consciously realized before until it was put in words.