Tag: master

Mastering yourself

“The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself.” – Plato

If you can’t control your emotions, acting on impulse, or “forcing” yourself to do what you know needs to be done, you are already at a disadvantage.

So many people worry about persuading others to do what they want, or to somehow influence their decisions, but don’t take into consideration the fact that if they are able to conquer themselves, they will be much better off.

Practice discipline. Practice self-control. Practice mastering your thoughts (and limiting negative self-talk). Focus on what you can control (your thoughts, words, and actions) and let the rest go.

Accidentally choosing mediocrity

In my quest to be great at all things, I become mediocre in them. I have to choose…just like I can’t reach my peak strength while also having the best endurance, I must prioritize what is most important to me. Do I want to be a powerlifter, a bodybuilder, or a marathoner? If I choose to be all three that’s fine. It may be the best overall for my health (being well-rounded), but I will limit my success in all of them by choosing to do all three simultaneously. If I want to compete to be the best in any of them, I must focus on only one.

One way to try to circumvent choosing only one is to have overlap in the things in which I want to be great. Figure out what each thing has in common…do they have similar training schedules so I’m not spending more time, effort, or money than I need to? If I can maximize my efficiency and effectiveness, I may be able to reach my potential in multiple tasks at once. But if they are very different (requiring different skill sets, training schedules, etc.), I will be limited by my resources (time, energy, money) and not be able to compete as well as I want.