Because Deliberate Practice = Mastery
“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.”
~Dolly Parton
It sounds so simple. However, the reality is another.
THAT is our biggest challenge in life. To live an authentic life that is in complete alignment with who we are and our particular purpose. To be who we truly were born to be.
I believe that the derailment stems from the expectations and the programming that we go through as children…expectations that have nothing to do with us. Those “expectations” act as detours and maybe also as blockades.
In the famous book by Eckhart Tolle, The Power of One, he talks about how when we are little children, we enjoy things purely. Let’s say the child sees a bird and he laughs and is just fascinated by the beautiful colors, how it can fly, the sounds it makes, etc. But then the child is told that that bird is a Blue Jay… and the other one is a Cardinal… and the next one is a Parrot; the result is that the child stops enjoying the birds for purely being…he now worries about which type of bird it is. Something feels lost here. The joy of just enjoying.
There was an expectation that I would follow along with the conventional life my parents envisioned for me. By that I mean; that I should choose a practical career, make an acceptable marriage, have 2.5 children, and settle not far from home. That was a limiting expectation that was not easy to disregard. It was very deeply etched in my head. In all honesty, I don’t think I even allowed myself to consider an alternative.
Well, maybe I did when I was much younger and I allowed myself to dream; and later at fleeting moments that I easily discarded as impossibilities…because that’s the story I had told myself.
Oh…but to live a uniquely purposeful life…is so awesome. It really has the power to change the world.
I am thinking about Susan B Anthony, one of my heroines. She did it fully and on purpose. This was a woman that found who she was and what she needed to accomplish very early in her life, and then was single minded about it. All her life choices were made with her purpose in mind.
What choices would I have made if I would have been clear about my life’s purpose? What choices will I make going forward? I wonder.
I know that at some point during those years of living the “expected life”, I must have caught a glimpse of my true self; and just like a dog that finds a buried bone, I dug and dug until I unearthed it. And then I couldn’t let it go. Nobody could have taken it away. That’s when I found the courage and changed everything.
I also know that I should have been a master at something in this life🤔… well I’m not dead yet. Seriously 😉 I believe that there is genius of some sort or another in all of us…the trick is on finding what it is. I shouldn’t say finding it… it’s more like remembering it.
On the other hand, Susan was born to Quaker parents at a time when women had zero rights. A woman couldn’t own property and was in fact, her husband’s property… not unlike a piece of furniture. Not even her children belonged to her.
However, the Quakers were advanced thinkers and considered women and men to be equal…a novel concept during those times.
That was the root of Susan’s upbringing. And because she was told another story, she saw the possibilities. Simple.
All the choices she made were toward accomplishing her purpose. Beginning with deciding never to marry. She couldn’t allow herself to be controlled or kept in check by any man. This was a gutsy but necessary choice if she wanted to change conditions for women.
A true inspiration. This woman was shunned, ridiculed, victimized by libelous reporters, attacked personally in the most vile ways. Nothing stopped her. She loved colorful clothes but she would always wear discreet black when doing the work, so not to call attention to herself. She knew that for long lasting change, the key lay on women getting the right to vote. Period.
I find it amazing how Susan B Anthony’s unique purpose had the power to change the world for all; but specially for women. I wonder if she herself could have imagined just how much. I, for one, will be forever grateful.
She exemplified deliberate practice of one’s purpose; which of course leads to mastery. Yes, she belongs in the very select group of world masters.
With respect, admiration, and much appreciation.
