Mastery can be described in modern psychological terms in stages of awareness and competence, 10,000-hour rule and the ability to creatively redefine a field. For example, take any job, hobby or activity, and ask yourself what specifically would be needed to achieve mastery in the context of the descriptions.
My name is Blake Kendrick, OMS II, a medical student writing to share my experience with how transforming the way I engage with my studies and activities outside of school enables me to continue my pursuits of mastery on top of a busy schedule.
In my recent conversations with colleagues, I’ve noticed a pressing phenomenon taking shape. During social gatherings, when we talk about our weekends or anything fun,we’ve done recently, often the responses are something along the lines of “nothing much” or “just studied and slept.” After all, as medical students we need to invest lots of time in our studies.
But what I’ve seen become increasingly common among medical students is that they don’t passionately pursue an activity outside of their studies. Many realize having hobbies is necessary and healthy, so I often see or hear about them participating in a club, campus activity or social event. Which is fine, and good, But as far as I know, I rarely see medical students dedicate any time to mastering something outside of their studies. And to be fair, life gets busy and the time to pursue activities become scarcer, so why should any medical student pursue mastery outside of the most stressful and pressing tasks at hand?
Medical school is hard and no doubt demands the hours of a full-time job. But I always look at it as an extension of things I already enjoy doing. To me, studying is the pursuit of esoteric knowledge privy to a select group of people, who can master its practical applications while appreciating proofs of concepts.
During my first year, when I wasn’t studying, I would be lifting, singing, playing video games, cooking and more. These activities, like studying, are an extension of who I amand how I express myself. Because they are an extension of who I am, I naturally pursue them without thinking too hard about creating the time to do them. Most importantly, these activities give me spaces to learn about myself and pursue mastery of both the subject and mastery of myself.
Lifting gives me an objective metric to gauge my progress and be honest with myself for any changes I need to make when I underperform. Cooking reveals to me what flavors and smells I enjoy, which further prompts me to think about why I like these things. When I think about why I like these things, it prompts further discussion with myself, often revealing something new.
I’m not saying anyone needs to pursue mastery of something in their lives, but the reason I discuss it is in hopes that anyone reading finds more fulfillment in what they enjoy doing. I challenge you to take anything you enjoy doing, and ask yourself, “What does doing this teach me about myself and how I approach the world?” Because, when you ask yourself those questions, that thought process can act as a powerful guide for every decision you make. Most of what I do is because it’s part of who I am, with every decision leading with the question.
I encourage you all, in a moment of downtime, to give the question a try for yourself.