ikigai - thoughts, part two
Yesterday, I talked about ikigai. I discussed the concept and my thoughts on how it should be simple. Well...the problem with that is it isn't simple - it's probably why there are so many self-help books, blog posts, and Pinterest posts about it.
It's simple in concept. Figuring it out is hard.
I want to bring up a similar and cross-functional concept to ikigai which is the idea of mastery (something the Japanese also seem to have ingrained in their culture).
What do you think about when you think about mastery? It brings up ideas of a master blacksmith hammering away at his swords, a painter whose paintings rival reality itself, or a gymnast executing perfect flips in her routine.
To me, mastery sounds like ikigai: continuous and sustained effort in a single direction of focus. And how do you do that? Some people become zealous in the passion. Others find it. Some carry it from generations. I wonder if ikigai begets mastery - I'm sure it helps.
But is it the same?
As someone who struggles to maintain sustained interested (and subsequently sustained effort), I also struggle with mastery. It begs the question - am I thinking of mastery incorrectly too?
Perhaps mastery is less about that and instead something different in my world. If it is, I have not found it yet and I continue to marvel at folks who become the best at something because they worked at is since they were a child or have been doing it for their entire life. But, as I've learned, ADHD changes how things look in life.
I asked ChatGPT and it provided some interesting wisdom:
"I think one way we might start reshaping the narrative is by taking some of the weight off of mastery. Instead of seeing it as this monumental, distant mountain only accessible via sustained perfection, what if we reframed it as a practice of small, deliberate experiments? Each experiment builds skills or insight, and over time, the pieces start to interlock."
The rebel in me says that I can do it. The bird inside me says there's more interesting things to be dedicating my time to.
Most likely the bird will win.