Here's how to live: Master Something

A short excerpt from Derek Sivers’ book “Here’s how to live”

Master something.

Pursuing mastery is ambitious, which helps your chance of success.

Most people fail in life not by aiming too high, but by aiming too low. If you aim high and miss, you don’t actually fail. Move to the most ambitious place in your field. (Actor? Hollywood. Tech? Silicon Valley. Etc.)

Expectations there are so high that they’ll help push you to be the best. You want the pressure. You want the stress. Don’t live somewhere pleasant surrounded by normal people. Live among your fellow freaks, where obsession is normal and ambition is rewarded.

You don’t get extreme results without extreme actions.

If you do what most people do, you’ll get what most people get. Don’t be normal.

Society’s guidelines are for the lost — not for you. You don’t need a spouse or kids. You don’t need to hang out, make small talk, or join in common rituals.

You don’t need to sleep at normal hours, keep a tidy home, or even relax.

Be sharply focused, not well-rounded. Think of the legendary achievers: the geniuses, brilliant artists, record-breaking athletes, or self-made billionaires.

Do you think those people were well-balanced? Of course not. They focused all their energy only on one thing. That’s why they were great. Pursue your mission at the expense of everything else. Nobody cares what you’re bad at, and neither should you.

Amplify your strengths. Nobody will see the rest. Keep the rest of your life boring. Drama is a distraction. Your personal life and other concerns can shrink to almost nothing.

Focus everything on your work.

Mastery is not about doing many things.

It’s doing one thing insanely well. The more you take on, the less you’ll achieve. Say no to everything but your mission. This is your one contribution to the world.

You don’t need new ideas. You need to master the idea you’ve begun. That’s why you can ignore all distractions. The world has no information that you need.

Resist the urge to branch out into something new.

You can do anything, but not everything.

Remember the saying “jack of all trades, master of none”. That’s the opposite of you. You are master of one.

Your focus will almost certainly lead to success. When you live, dream, and work with one single mission, you will achieve that mission.

But beware of money and fame. Money can pull you towards your mountain, but sometimes it pulls you away.

Fame tries to pull you out of the deep path of mastery into the shallow gutter of flattery.

The best response to fame’s endless requests is a simple mantra: “No. No. No. No. No.”

How long will it take you to become a master? It doesn’t matter.

Imagine getting to a mountaintop after a long hike through a gorgeous forest.

Achieving your goal would feel like taking off your backpack. That’s all. You do it for the journey, not the destination.

Pursuing mastery is how to live.