Mastery

I was almost awarded my Judo brown belt at age thirteen. But I quit the month of grading. I went back to Judo the following year, but at age fourteen, I quit again right before grading. My sensei was mystified, telling my mom that I had improved so much he couldn’t understand why I was quitting just when my Judo skills were really beginning to come together.

Why did I quit? The same reason most people quit at that stage of the mastery journey.

Here are the four big steps on the road to mastery in any skill:

1) Unconscious Incompetence

You suck but you have no idea you suck. You are blissfully unaware. You may even think you are crushing it. You have no context by which to measure yourself. These are the halcyon days of the beginner first dabbling in a new skill. The days before self awareness and self criticism shatter their delusions of competence. It sounds like such a happy place to dwell, but in fact, during this time, no improvement is possible because the ability to objectively critique oneself is the key ingredient required for improvement.

2) Conscious Incompetence

This is the painful stage when you realize how little you actually know and how far you have yet to go to develop basic competency. This is the stage when most people quit and look for the next thing. But it is impossible to progress through to the next stage of mastery without first developing an awareness of your incompetencies.

3) Conscious Competence

You have developed the ability to discern between effective and ineffective execution. You might not get it right every time, but you are aware when you miss the mark and, with focus, are able to self correct. This stage is less painful than the previous one because you have some ability to execute correctly, but it isn’t easy. For the impatient, even this stage can be discouraging because mastery is still a ways off. You are able to perform successfully, but it requires all your concentration.

4) Unconscious Competence

This is the coveted stage of mastery that few possess the perseverance to reach, where you can execute a skill correctly without thinking about it. Success becomes effortless. Performance becomes fun.

We are all at different stages of the mastery curve for different skills. After 20 years of CrossFit, for Pistols, L-Sits, muscle ups and running I am at stage 2. I am painfully aware I need improvement in these skills. For Pull ups, T2B and GHD sit ups I am at stage 3. With a little attention, I can execute these movements efficiently and correctly, but it requires focus and effort. The push up and the power clean are examples of movements which I can execute with unconscious competence. This does not mean there is not room for improvement – there always is – but that I can smash through fast, efficient reps of these while my mind is focused on the next stage of the workout.

We have all travelled through these stages of mastery

We have all travelled through these stages of mastery. If you remember your first efforts when learning to drive a car, you will recall how much attention it required to coordinate the brakes, accelerator, steering wheel, turn signals and gear shift. Now you can adjust all those things navigating through busy traffic while turning down the radio, turning on the heater and holding a conversation.

At 14 years old, I did not have the life experience to understand the mastery journey. I had never mastered a skill before. So, when I became painfully aware of all the errors I was making in my judo practice, I did not see it as an opportunity to advance to the next stage of mastery but as proof that I lacked the skills necessary to excel at the sport and so, I quit at the very moment my sensei thought I deserved promotion.

You would need multiple lifetimes to master every CrossFit skill

The good news is that I eventually went back and, almost 20 years later, earned my black belt. I share this because the sport of CrossFit spans many athletic domains from power lifting to Olympic lifting to running to rowing to gymnastics to skipping to swimming and beyond. Specialists in each of those sports spend their entire athletic careers mastering just one. I have found it useful to keep that in mind as I muddle through my CrossFit journey. Considering the training focus The Assassin put into his rowing; it would be ridiculous for me to expect to come close to his level of mastery in that sport.

CrossFit is tough. There are just too many skill pieces to master them all at once. It is easier just to pick a single-skill sport like running or cycling. Your route to mastery will be much shorter. You would need multiple lifetimes to master every CrossFit skill. I’ve been at it since 2005 and have reached stage 4 mastery in only a handful. Instead of worrying about mastering them all at once, I suggest that each year, you choose one or two things to improve upon and don’t worry about the rest.

Personally, I can always start working on L-Sits and Pistols once I’ve achieved muscle up mastery. Until then, I’ll just muddle through at my stage 2 level of conscious incompetence.

More recently, I’ve added BJJ and kickboxing into my life in order to subject myself to new flavours of incompetence. Also working on some rope flow on my back deck. There are always fun new skills to suck at. There is something wonderful about the learner’s journey and approaching life with a beginner’s mind.

We are all on this journey together, and we will all be at different stages of mastery for different skills. That is part of the “Learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable” part of the CrossFit journey. Pick a skill you want to master, then be humble and patient. Mastery is a long road. Ask a coach if you want to accelerate your progress, but please understand that accelerate does not equal instant. We all had to work on these skills. We’re still working. Some of us for 20+ years. Stop worrying about the destination so much and learn to enjoy the process.