Picking A Lane And The Path To Mastery

[00:00:01] Welcome to Business, Finance and Soul. My name is Shaun Enders and I'm a curious entrepreneur. I love exploring business, personal finance and consciousness. I'll jump around topics, offer my opinions and occasionally interview interesting people. Looking forward to going on this journey. Let's be curious together.

[00:00:27] Welcome back to Business, Finance and Soul. Thank you for joining me. Today's topic, Picking A Lane and The Path To Mastery. The reason this is so important to me personally is because I have somehow conquered this in my life.

[00:00:44] I've been in a career for 25 years and I really, really have been on that path to mastery. But oh my gosh, it has not been easy. And I wonder if you're in the same boat. And if you are, congrats. You put in time, you paid your dues. If you're early in your career, this is for you. I want you to listen to this because things are not always as sexy as you believe they should be.

[00:01:13] And we do live in a world. And we do live in a world that glorifies instant gratification. And we live in a world of variety. And this idea of picking a single career path and committing to it can really feel countercultural. But stay with me through this episode because I'm going to draw some comparisons and showcase where picking something, picking a lane and really,

[00:01:43] really, really going deep, really going deep will pay off. And there's a lot of stories of success in this area. You know, mastery, true expertise in something. It comes from really dedicating yourself in one lane and dedicating yourself even when the journey feels super repetitive or mundane.

[00:02:04] And that's the hard truth. And I think we need to move toward an era of hard truth because it's an essential truth. Anyone looking to build a meaningful and impactful career knows this is the way.

[00:02:22] Anyway, I was given a recommendation last year to read a book, Joshua Metcalfe's book, Chopped Wood, Carry Water. And it was a real, it's a perfect metaphor for this philosophy. The book emphasizes the book emphasizes the importance of doing the same task repeatedly day after day to build skill and really transform yourself.

[00:02:48] The journey to mastery, it's not glamorous. It's grueling effort. It's moments of boredom. And moments of boredom can be a month. It could be a year.

[00:03:04] There's probably in those moments going to be a constant temptation to kind of abandon your path for something easier or more exciting. I went through it. You know, this idea of, oh, well, you know, I should be excited or I should be inspired every day to do what I do.

[00:03:25] It's just simply not true. There's the macro and then there's the micro. And for the macro, you can find inspiration in what you're doing. And sometimes that can just be one chapter in your life of where you're inspired to do what you're doing because it pays the bills. Because you're really, really happy that this career path or this job is paying the bills right now.

[00:03:53] But if you dedicate yourself to that space, if you stay in that lane, keep your head down and do it better than you ever thought imaginable. These moments reveal themselves. And in Joshua Metcalfe's book, the story shows that really the mastery is born from that discipline. So sometimes even though you think, oh, geez, what am I doing this for? Maybe it's just a job. Maybe I'm just paying the bills.

[00:04:20] You don't know what's going to emerge when you put your head down and you really find that ability to progress even when it feels slow, even when you're uninspired. And that's really the challenge of discipline because of the fact that I think most of us crave that diversity and excitement.

[00:04:45] We want that dopamine hit. I know I do. It's human nature to kind of seek out novelty and, you know, to avoid discomfort. But truth is that the growth, the kind that actually leads to success, it requires that discipline. And discipline doesn't mean suppressing your curiosity. You know that's what this podcast is about. Exploring your curiosity. That's the whole essence of my being.

[00:05:14] You know, it also doesn't mean that you don't try to take on new opportunities. In fact, that's why this podcast was born is because, you know, I have mastered to a major extent the industry that I'm in. But at least, you know, the blocking and tackling of it. I still, of course, am constantly learning, you know, the human capital aspect and, you know, the growth aspect.

[00:05:44] There's never you're never done with that. But I needed something new. I needed another outlet. So it doesn't mean when you're on your path to mastery that you're actually avoiding things. It just means that you're channeling your energy into really focused, purposeful effort.

[00:06:00] It's really about committing to the grind and knowing that every moment spent is really honing your craft in a way that's going to be that investment that you need in order to gain mastery. I think of of athletes. We were talking about it this last weekend of how good Tony Romo is as an as a sports broadcaster now. I mean, when I first heard him, I was like, this guy's next level.

[00:06:29] I mean, he's done his homework. He absolutely has impeccable delivery. His knowledge of the game is second to none. I mean, really, really impressive. And I wasn't alone. Now Tom Brady comes on the scene and, you know, he's actually making a really big impact. But if you think about it during their football careers, they focused exclusively on being the best quarterbacks that they could be.

[00:06:54] You know, they showed up for every practice, reviewed, you know, game film and footage. And then they had to do things in the public eye, which is they were criticized when they didn't win games or, you know, if they said or did the wrong thing.

[00:07:10] I mean, you know, Brady with the flategate, whether they deserved it or not, they played all of that out while still not losing focus on what their mission was, which was becoming the best quarterbacks and the best leaders that they could be at that chapter in their life.

[00:07:33] So what's crazy is they went all in and mastered one skill set. And that mastery laid the foundation for their success after they retired from their sport. You know, their journeys remind me that mastery comes from really embracing the repetition, the challenges of the present moment.

[00:07:57] And I think that's it's a perfect way to look at your own life of where I highly doubt Tony Romo while he's, you know, at camp or while he's watching game film, that he's dreaming of, oh, you know, I, you know, I can't wait till I get into the broadcast booth or that he might ever even have that as a career.

[00:08:23] It's just the fact is that he he knew what he wanted to do. He knew the the imprint that he wanted to make in the career path that he chose. And he went all in and that continued to set him up for the next door that opened. Now, those are public examples, but I've got to use public examples. There's a million private examples of people that I know, but you won't know them. And so I'm not going to share their stories, but it's it's similar.

[00:08:53] They went all in on one thing and that one thing set them up for the next thing. We can't know what lies around the corner, but this is why I wanted to put this out, because, you know, if you're a young professional in your career and you find yourself, you know, getting a little bit stale or bored. It's OK to feel that it's OK to lean into that.

[00:09:20] But I think you sell yourself short if you bail too early or if you feel like you're supposed to be excited or, you know, inspired week to week or even month to month. So go back to the mindset of, hey, mastery will open doors. Because that's one of the most rewarding aspects of committing to that single path is just trusting that it will unlock new opportunities over time.

[00:09:49] As you gain experience, as you get expertise and you get the insights, build the connections in your field. Those skills are going to you're going to leverage them. It's interesting. People see what you're doing. They're like, wow, that person is hustling in their lane. I'm taking notice.

[00:10:09] And that's kind of cool, you know, because we're not all going to be fortunate enough to just choose a field and then stay in that one field. We might fall into something and then find that we're actually good at it or for a moment we're inspired. Hang on to that. You know, sometimes the true dream only emerges after years of dedication to a craft.

[00:10:37] You know, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I was 21 years old. I had no idea that this would ultimately be where my life would take me. And as I look back, I'm really proud that I pushed through moments of self-doubt. I pushed through those moments of boredom because there was a greater journey waiting for me. And I'm not even done.

[00:11:05] I mean, geez, I've got a lot of years left to create and add value. But I picked a lane and I've continued to get better and better at that. And I have had to remind myself that I'm not locked into one career forever. You know, I've gained a lot of skills from this career.

[00:11:31] And mastering that one discipline has created a really fulfilling life for me. So as you look at really knowing that your dream may continue to emerge years after, you know, you get into your craft or grow, it's a lot easier to just trust the process.

[00:11:56] Trust where things are going and know that you can push yourself beyond the limits and discover what you're truly capable of in the moment. So I want to talk a lot about or, you know, talk a little bit about taking chances with purpose.

[00:12:13] You know, we talked a little bit about the fact that that you don't have to not take risks or not pursue new opportunities. Growth requires that you're going to take some calculated chances. And the key is to align those risks with the skills and knowledge that you've already developed.

[00:12:38] It's similar when someone gets into staffing, which is the career path that I've chosen. And it's great if they've actually, if they're staffing for the career that they had chosen, let's say they were accountants and they were like, man, I'm craving to work with people. I really love selling or I really love working with companies to help them build out their organizational charts.

[00:13:03] And now they use their accounting background to springboard over into this new era for themselves. That's pretty cool. They're leveraging where they went or where they were.

[00:13:19] And so, you know, when you committed to a path and you put in the hard work to grow, you're going to find yourself better equipped to seize those opportunities that align with your strengths rather than being, you know, kind of a jack of all trades, master of none. You know, new opportunities will come up and you're kind of like, I'm not sure, you know, where I take things. So I want you to think of your career really as a tree.

[00:13:45] You know, the deeper that you let your roots grow in one area, the stronger your foundation becomes. And that strength allows you to branch out in new directions without losing stability. But if you keep uprooting yourself to chase the next big thing, you're never really going to grow to your full potential. If a tree has, you know, more branches than it has the depth of its own roots, it topples.

[00:14:14] And so plant your roots somewhere, really go deep and then have the branches. There's just it's not an either or there's just a sequence to it. And I'll leave you with this. You know, repetition is the mother of skill. I heard that from Tony Robbins and it's so true. The path to mastery is not glamorous, no matter what people tell you.

[00:14:44] It's filled with longer days, you know, repetitive tasks, lots and lots of self-doubt. But it's also the path to extraordinary growth and fulfillment. Just taking that lane, committing to it. You're not just building skills, you're building character. You're cultivating discipline. Resilience. And you will have a payoff in that space.

[00:15:10] So the next time you're feeling stuck in the grind, remember every bit of sweat, every seemingly mundane task is bringing you a step closer to mastery. And when you finally achieve it, you're going to look back and realize that the journey was worth it. You know, it was like, you know what you did was worth it. And that's what we're looking for. Not that immediate gratification. Forget about that.

[00:15:39] There's going to be moments where you're like, wow, that came faster than I expected. But the truth of the matter is true lasting fulfillment comes from the deep work. Mastery isn't just about being the best at what you do. It's about becoming the best version of yourself. So with that, until next time, stay curious. And thanks for listening. Thank you.