How to Achieve Personal Mastery
In The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge illuminates the key to achieving personal mastery. I think of personal mastery as becoming the best version of ourselves. It doesn't mean that we don't have more to work on (we always do). It does mean that we get to master-level effectiveness in knowing ourselves and knowing how to achieve that which we intend to achieve.
Senge says that the key to personal mastery is our ability to hold “creative tension.” Creative tension is the gap between where we are now and where we want to go. Being able to hold that tension means
Honestly accepting the reality of where we are now, not sugar-coating the situation nor making it out to be worse than it is.
Being clear on the future state we are trying to create.
Holding the gap between the two.
The distance of the gap can make us feel impatient and discouraged, like we'll never get there.
Creative tension creates forces within us similar to the tension acting on a rubber band when we stretch it. The tensile forces urge the gap to get shorter. The gap can get shorter in two ways: by moving the goal closer so that it's a smaller goal that feels easier to achieve, or by using the tension to motivate us and pull us forward toward the goal. In Senge’s words: "Current reality becomes the ally, not the enemy. An accurate, insightful view of current reality is as important as a clear vision."
Rather than shortening the gap, we can try to get more comfortable with the tension calling us to journey across the gap. Holding creative tension becomes an exercise in holding what feels like a paradox: understanding and fully accepting what we aren’t quite satisfied with right now, while seeing and believing in the future state which we are attempting to create for ourselves.
This can feel like an identity crisis in some ways; can I fully accept where I am now and enjoy the journey towards something I believe will be better?
I will finish with an example: I recently hired a speaking coach to help me work on my introduction to use when I give workshops and keynotes. I had to own the fact that my introduction left quite a bit of room for improvement. I had to believe that I could change, and I had to be willing to put in the effort to start traversing the gap.
Can you hold your own creative tension, allowing it to motivate you without crippling you?
