Are We There Yet? vol. 227
“Because the only thing in life that’s really worth having is a good skill,” he said. “Good skill is the greatest possession. The things that money buys are fine. They’re good. I like them. But having a skill [is the most important thing].” This quote was from an interview that Jerry Seinfeld had with The New Yorker in response to a question about why he still works so much despite having so much money. It was featured in an opinion piece in The Washington Post by Trung Phan.
Seinfeld credited an article from 1987 in Esquire magazine about mastery as helping him to hone his craft. Mastery is defined as comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment. The article in 1987 focused on fitness, but many of the principles can be applied to any pursuit.
I think that many would rank both effort and practice as the keys to mastering a pursuit. Those are certainly two components needed if one wants to become an expert in anything. But practice and effort alone will likely not be enough. Another important attribute for those seeking mastery is the willingness to fail and have setbacks. It’s often been said that we do all of our learning through failure. I’m not sure I would go that far but I do believe that to get to the top level of anything, your mindset has to accept that there will be failures and setbacks. Perseverance may be among the most important qualities of those who succeed.
Another quality needed for those who want to master a pursuit is the recognition that much of your time is spent in plateaus with short bursts of progress. The author of the Esquire article noted that “Learning something new involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher than what preceded it” and “You must be willing to spend most of your time on a plateau to keep practicing even when you seem to be getting nowhere.”
At first, I didn’t think that the lessons in this article applied to me. At this stage in my career, I don’t think of myself as pursuing mastery. But on reflection, I’m always trying to get better at whatever I’m doing, so the concepts of patience and perseverance are relevant. In a world where we are bombarded with media promising easy ways to attain success in everything, remembering these concepts is even that much more important.
Take care and stay safe.
BOOK:
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.
But now, nearly forty years later, it’s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband’s emotional health. Their three grown children aren’t doing much better: Nathan’s chronic fear won’t allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything—substance, foodstuff, women—in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she’s not a product of her family’s pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives’ successes and failures.
Learn more about Bob Len here.
About Wolf Group Capital Advisors
At Wolf Group Capital Advisors, a comprehensive wealth management firm and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, nothing is more important than the fiduciary responsibility we have in managing your wealth. Taking the utmost care, we focus on providing advice tailored to your specific circumstances. With more than two decades advising U.S. expatriates and non-US citizens employed by international organizations, we are qualified in investment strategies addressing global issues. Empathy and curiosity—combined with our experience in life planning and investment management—enable you to explore a wider set of possibilities that can lead to a fulfilling life you’ve worked hard to attain.