Mastery isn’t a straight and consistent path. It won’t even be the same path taken by anyone else.
This is because time keeps moving forward. With time progressing, random circumstances are constantly introduced. They say you never step into the same river twice, and that’s because of the flow of time.
Thus you won’t be able to follow the same specific path someone else took to become a master. This is regardless of the reasonableness of those steps, and no matter how charismatic the instructor is.
So rather than focus on steps, understand the fundamental principles needed to develop mastery:
- Learn many different skills, many different tactics, and many different strategies
- Improve your powers of observation and collect data in each situation
- Apply this practical knowledge to the current situation
By repeating this process over and over, your intuition will grow and your progress will accelerate.
The takeaway
The path to mastery takes time, but it’s your best chance of consistently obtaining success under a wide variety of conditions.