Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 07:09:50 -0700 (PDT)

From: "kayode olufemi-ayoola" <olufemikay@yahoo.com> View Contact Details

Subject: Personal Mastery

To:

PERSONAL MASTERY
We have crossed the threshold of constant change. A
threshold that forces us to abandon the comfort of the
familiar in-order to overcome the anxiety which comes with
the unknown – this unknown “change” package (sometimes
revealed as a preview of life’s coming attractions/trends)
constantly forces new learning on us – the act of finding the
stuff you love (through the play instinct, acting from inner
necessity), and getting so good at expressing your personal
discoveries that you become an indispensable human being;
achieving personal mastery.
Personal mastery is not really a goal or destination, but
rather a journey, a process. It is a process that involves
continual introspection, personal development and learning.
In the words of Charles Handy:
“Change, however, does not have to be forced on us by crisis
and calamity. We can do it for ourselves. If changing is only
another word for learning, then the theories of learning will
also be theories of changing. Those who are always learning
are those who can ride the waves of change and who see a
changing world as full of opportunities, not damages. They
are the one most likely to be survivors in a time of
discontinuity. They are also the enthusiasts and the
architects of new ways and forms and ideas. If you want to
change, try learning one might say, or more precisely, if you
want to be in control of your change, take learning more
seriously.”
The very root word for “learning” in Chinese is made up of
two symbols. One translates as “study”; and the other as to
“practice constantly”. Thus we only learn what we study by
doing it.
Peter Senge said: “People with a high level of personal
mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never
“arrive”. Sometimes, language, such as the term “personal
mastery”, creates a misleading sense of definiteness, of
black and white. But personal mastery is not something you
possess. It is a process. It is a lifelong discipline. People with
a high level of personal mastery are actually aware of their
ignorance, their incompetence, and their growth areas. And
they are deeply self-confident. Paradoxical? Only for those
who do not see that the “journey is the reward”. The journey
is the reward. It is not what you achieve at intermittent
points; it is what you become in the process of reaching for
incremental personal mastery.
I call this journey personal mastery. In other words, to take
the master’s journey, you have to do as George Leonard
said:

”practice diligently, striving to hone your skills, to attain new

levels of competence. But while doing so - and this the
inexorable fact of the journey –you also have to be willing to
spend most of your time on a plateau (i.e. to keep practicing
even when you seem to be getting nowhere)”
Educationist, John Gardner asks an interesting question, as
revealed by Peter Drucker:
“Why do some men and women stop learning and growing,
while others remain vital to the very end of their days? One
of the enemies of sound lifelong motivation is a rather
childish conception people have of the kind of concrete,
describable goal toward which all efforts drive them. People
want to believe that there is a point at which they can feel
that they have arrived. They want a scoring system that tells
them they have piled up enough points to be accounted a
success. But the metaphor is wrong. Life is not a metaphor
that has a summit, nor is it, as some suppose, a riddle that
has an answer. Life is an endless unfolding and, if people
wish it to be, an endless process of self discovery”

Kay Olufemi-Ayoola has been a practicing Career

Development expert and Coach for over 5years; he has
inspired thousands to reach personal and professional
fulfillment and transform their careers. Using individual and
group coaching, conducting hands-on workshops and
seminars and consulting with organizations , he coaches his
clients to advance up the corporate ladder quickly, and love
the job they have or land their dream job. Kay’s active
engagement in Human Resources and Career Development
began in the mid 1990’s as an undergraduate conducting
Personal Achievement Success Seminars (P.A.S.S) and Career
Talks, which were aimed at helping students maximize their
potentials regardless of prevailing obstacles in their
environment. He has extensive work experiences from
various Consulting firms and was Head, Human Resources
Vigeo Oil & Gas Limited, and Chief Operating Officer,
After School Graduate Development Centre before his
appointment as Head, Human Resources &
Administration, Spring Life Assurance Plc (a
subsidiary of Bank PHB). Kay is the founder and
Coordinator of Daystar Christian Centre’s Career
Development Unit – CareerPlus+ (started in 2004). He is a
frequent speaker at seminars conferences and has
published well over 60+ articles on Career Development,
Personal Branding, Career Change & Transitions and
Graduate Employability to date. He is the co-founder &
Executive toolkit: Peak
Partner of
Performance Coaches.

How do you define Personal Mastery?

Call:08037207606
Email: olufemikay@yahoo.com