I’ve always found it weird how we laugh at other people’s failures.
When we hear the singer struggle to hit the high notes at auditions, the artist who seemingly let his toddler smear paint on the canvas, or the boy who gets rejected by Susie in class, a little grin forms on our faces.
We praise victory so much that we mock those who aren’t as fortunate. But what we don’t realize is that the people who failed are further along than anyone who sneered at their loss.
These people took action while everyone else sat and watched. And no matter how bad they failed or how many mistakes they made, they took the first step to becoming the victor everyone cheers for.
That’s why I love the losers. I love the people who take rejection and bounce back like nothing happened. They’re the ones who see past their initial losses and continue to work towards the future goal.
Everyone stresses the importance of thinking big and having great dreams nowadays. But when you look at things like goals, visions, and dreams, they’re all worthless without what I just described—action.
It doesn’t matter what you see yourself doing in the future if you’re not willing to do something now.
That’s why time and focused effort are so important. It’s those two things that lead to a natural progression of skill in any craft. And that progression is what I’ll show here today.
The Mastery Ladder
There are four steps on your journey to master any craft. And each step is a combination of the effort given and the skill level achieved:
#1 Bystander (Low Effort, Low Skill)
The Bystander is where everyone starts. It’s a combination of giving low effort and having a low amount of skill.
Part of me hesitates to even describe this level since people at this stage just observe their challenges instead of facing them. It’s not cool to fail, so they don’t bother to leave their comfort zone.
But what’s ironic about Bystanders is that they tend to have the biggest mouths. Their unwillingness to improve gives them a false sense of security in their skills, and that leads to mocking and criticizing anyone who actually tries.
But point out the Bystander’s flaws, and you’ll hear something like this:
- “I know, I know…”
- “It’s not that hard…”
- “I could do that too if…”
It’s a bunch of excuses for a lack of effort.
Anyone can talk about what they’re going to do. But no one leaves this point unless they back it up with action.
#2 Student (High Effort, Low Skill)
The Student is the next step on the ladder. It’s a combination of high effort and low skill.
This is where you’re obviously trying to improve, but the skills just aren’t there yet.
This is the novice writer whose book was rejected yet again by publishers. It’s the kid who trained like a dog over the summer and still got cut from the varsity.
It’s the least rewarding point on the ladder, and it will demoralize anyone if their head’s not in the right place.
That’s why so many people are Bystanders. What’s the point in trying so hard if you’ll have nothing to show for it?
But guess what? The Student is the most important step on the ladder.
Students show that they have a will to improve even though it doesn’t pay off in the short term. And if you’re humble enough to admit you’re not where you need to be, you’re further along than most of the population.
So yeah, it’s not fun to work without having anything to show for it. But the few who keep progressing will remember this as the most valuable part of their journey.
#3 Graduate (High Effort, High Skill)
The third step is the Graduate level.
It’s where your skill level catches up to all the effort, and if you kept working when the return was low, you’ll reap the initial benefits here.
This is the “I get it!” stage where you finally see the big picture, and you realize that you had to go through the trial and error to find what really works.
Sure you’ll still have to work like a Student—and that’s why you might catch the “tryhard” label here—but you’ll succeed in areas where you always failed before.
You’ll even accomplish feats similar to those who you modeled your style after. And while it will take more effort for you compared to them, it will still be rewarding none the less.
Just make sure you avoid the pride trap here. It’s tempting to boast when you get rewarded for what you did in obscurity before, but remember to keep the humility you had when you were a Student.
Besides, this isn’t even the highest point on the ladder.
#4 Master (Low Effort, High Skill)
Low effort and high skill, that’s the rare combination Master’s enjoy.
This is where all the work over the years pays off. Not only are you highly skilled at this point, but your efficiency is scary.
Tasks that took hours before will get done in 30 minutes. You’ll notice any errors you made with a glance. And actions that stressed and fatigued you before will feel as natural as breathing.
Yes, you’ll still have to work at your craft, but everything will be so effortless at this point that it won’t feel like work anymore. It will just feel like…you.
Professional athletes are a perfect example here. Even though fans (read: Bystanders) love to criticize their every move, those athletes have practiced more than what those fans could ever imagine.
Masters have given countless hours to be great at what they do, and their paychecks are proof.
The Exception?
So those are the four steps on the ladder to mastery, but it seems like I missed something right?
What about the people who were born to work their craft? You know, the ones who were already Masters when they came out the womb?
Well those people are called Naturals. And at first glance, they’re the exception to all the rules.
They appear to have a high level of skill while still giving a low amount of effort, just like the Master. They’re the kind of people who make you realize that life really isn’t fair.
But the thing about Naturals is, they’re Bystanders in disguise.
The only difference is that a Natural will have a higher starting skill level than everyone else in the environment. And this fact actually puts the Natural at a disadvantage.
Yeah, they may have the skill level of a Graduate or even a Master, but the Natural didn’t form the work ethic to match. This means Naturals are prone to coasting through challenges without knowing why they’re successful. And sure, that may not seem like a disadvantage at first, but what about when they hit a roadblock?
That’s when Naturals get exposed.
They didn’t take the time to learn the process behind what they were doing. So when they meet a challenge they can’t cruise by, they fall apart.
And you see examples of this all the time:
- It’s the overhyped basketball player who can’t hold a roster spot at the next level.
- It’s the genius who got straight A’s in high school but discovered that college “wasn’t for him”.
- It’s the people who were in great shape in their 20’s but blew up later because they never had to lose.
I’m tough on Naturals because their starting point makes them oblivious to the process behind what they’re doing. But if you find the rare Natural who enjoys the learning process and develops a solid work ethic, you’re in for something special.
Excellence Is a Habit
So there’s the Mastery Ladder and the “exception” to the rule.
And as you can see, the process of climbing the ladder is pretty simple—action is crucial to achieving mastery. But if it’s that simple, why isn’t everyone a Master at what they do?
I can answer that question with one word: momentum.
They stop pushing forward.
While it’s true that the intensity of your work is important, the consistency of it is more valuable.
Habits form when you repeat the same actions over and over again, yet those actions still have to occur within a short amount of time. No matter how hard you work three times a week, you’ll be better off using more consistent effort with similar, or even less intensity.
We see evidence of this in nature. A pebble rolling down a hill has more force than a boulder that’s stuck in place. Momentum built up over time strengthens even the smallest of objects.
Consistency is the real key to move up the ladder to mastery. The more you do, the less you’ll have to try. And when action becomes a habit, it’s hard to not do the work.
So stop asking yourself how hard you’re working. Figure out how consistent you are instead.
Are you moving forward every day? Are you doing something on a near daily basis?
Adding little by little eventually leads to a lot. And when the work becomes a habit, the steps that require more effort will just be more of what you’re used to.
You won’t see challenges as being easy or difficult anymore. You’ll plan for the time it will take to overcome them instead.
That’s the beauty of momentum.
Take myself for an example here. I know I’m not the greatest writer in the world. That’s why I look to great writers for advice all the time.
Yeah, some of them have quirks that distinguish them from the crowd, but for the most part, they all say the same thing I’m telling you here—you have to write until it’s natural. And in order for it to be natural, you actually have to do it until it feels that way.
That’s why I write in some form every day now. I know I won’t publish most of it, but I write to write anyway.
Sometimes it’s for 10 minutes. Other times I’ll go on for hours. But either way, I don’t worry about how intense I get. I’m more concerned about giving that consistent effort over time.
Just Don’t Stop
Taking action has to become the norm. You can’t stop.
When you stop, you let comfort sneak in. When you stop, you start to question what you’re doing.
Don’t kill your own momentum. An imperfect action taken today is better than a dream for years down the road.
So if you write, keep writing. And if you sing, keep singing. You need that natural rhythm.
You might think this sounds a little obsessive but it’s not at all. No one obsesses over walking, breathing, or driving. You do them all so much that they’re easy.
This isn’t about obsession. It’s about forming productive habits.
Thirty minutes a day is all it takes to keep climbing.
You’ll have 23 ½ hours for everything else.
-Drew
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