In the author's words...
Part I: The Purpose of Mastery
If the first, most fundamental purpose of masterful work is to bring God glory, the second is to love our neighbors as ourselves. We ought to pursue excellence in our work not as a means to an end but in obedience to what Jesus identified as the Greatest Commandments.
As Christians we can't claim to love our neighbor as ourselves and then do our work with mediocrity.
Mediocre work is nothing short of a failure of love. It is through the ministry of excellence that we love our neighbors through our work.
Part II: The Path to Mastery
There are three keys to mastering your one thing.
- The first is a direct or indirect apprenticeship.
- The second is what scientists call "purposeful practice," which distinguishes itself from "naive practice" in that it requires specific goals, intense focus, rapid feedback, and frequent discomfort.
-The third and final key to mastery is having the discipline to stick with your one thing over a long enough period of time to become truly masterful at it.
Part III: The Promise of Mastery
The third and final promise of mastery is that when we pursue excellence in our work as a means of glorifying God and serving others, we are invited to share in the True Master's happiness.
While our happiness is not the primary purpose of work, our desire to find work that we love is a good, God-honoring thing. The truest and deepest satisfaction of vocation follows mastery, not the other way around.
It is only when we get insanely good at what we do that we not only fall in love with our work but stay in love with it over a long period of time.
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Thank your Jordan and I apologize that when I started reading your first book (while it was still a blog post of sorts), I thought you to be too young to teach me anything new and worthwhile. You have. - Danny Smith
