How To Ratchet Up The ‘Current Best You’ In Pursuit Of Mastery

In order to empower the “current best self” in the pursuit of mastery, a healthy appreciation and confidence in this current best self must be fused with the balancing humility required to be open to the help of others to keep getting better. This thesis derives from a combination of Roger Neill’s “current best thinking” approach and the book “Inner Mastery, Outer Impact” by Hitendra Wadhwa.

Current best thinking

As I wrote earlier in describing Neill’s current Best Thinking approach, when you give someone a recommendation or suggestion, you sell. You buy. You force them into an evaluative yes/no mode.

On the other hand, if you go to someone with your current best thinking, invite them to bring their perspective to improve that thinking. As Neill reminded me, this is forward looking and positive, unlike a “straw man” who can be treated much more negatively.

Inner mastery, outer impact

Attempting to get to the essence of Wadhwa’s remarkable book, Inner Mastery, Outer Impact, is a mistake. This is not a summary book. It is a book to be digested slowly and reflected deeply. That makes you think.

One of my own takeaways is about the possibility for people to write their own hero’s journey and, a la Joseph Campbell, to embrace their quest to face the inevitable challenges and obstacles in the company of mentors and allies on the path to personal transformation and enlightenment .

Wadhwa identifies five core energies critical to this journey: Purpose, Wisdom, Growth, Love, and Self-Realization:

1. A Purpose-driven life path, paved with values, with goals as milestones
2. wisdom born of uncovering and embracing the truth in all matters and directing your emotions and thoughts in the service of your purpose with “non-attachment” to short-term results
3. Continually growth in the inner connection with your core and your outer expression of it in everything you do
4. LoveEnjoying the joy of others and finding success in their success
5. self-realization characterized by a calm and joyful spirit within

Current best you

Just as every organization is perfectly designed to deliver the results that it is currently delivering, each of us has a range of talents, knowledge, skills and experiences that make us who we are, what we do , and say what we are currently saying. own it Heed UCLA coach John Wooden’s advice and give it “the best effort you’re (currently) capable of.”

And then continuously increase your skills to be your current best. You can’t do this alone. This is why it is so important to be open to the help of others.

The five core energies of Wadhwa provide a useful framework for just this:

1. Dig deep to own your own purpose. Find out what matters most to you. This should be the North Star, which informs and combines all the important decisions you make Why your personal mission What your vision, and the How your personal values ​​and principles – WHO you want to be
2. Have enough confidence and humility to be open to helping. Soften your personal biases to learn the “base truth” about your own situation and abilities so you can accept this current reality – and create a gap to your purpose.
3. Make the decision to build on your core strengths on a never-ending, ongoing basis, invest in learning knowledge, practice skill, sacrifice comfort for hard-won experience, and train with masters if necessary to Building caring and sensitivity at a level of craftsmanship.
4. Be a leader focused on others, help others succeed and find their own happiness. While happiness is always found in a combination of doing good for others, doing things you’re good at, and doing good for yourself, the world needs more leaders who make doing good for others their top priority — hopefully starting with you .
5. Appreciate and trust “the best you of today” while executing the decisions you make to grow and actually taking the steps necessary for that growth in alignment with your purpose.

With everything, remember that this is not It’s about gaining mastery, because when you think you’ve reached the top, the only way is down. It’s about being content with the healthy dissatisfaction of those devoted to the never-ending quest for mastery. As Roger Neill put it, “The world still belongs to the malcontents.”

Click here for a list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #821) and a synopsis of my book on executive onboarding: The new leader’s 100-day plan of action

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