The philosophy of kaizen is continuous, ongoing improvement in all aspects of one’s life. It is required to “master” anything in life.
The path of mastering something is the combination of not only doing the best you can do at it,
but also doing it the best it can be done.
Mastery is a continuous, ongoing process … a journey, a trail, you take rather than a destination you arrive it. This perspective enables the concept of mastery to be much more reachable and possible. It also clearly implies that the pursuit of mastery never ends — it is a constant drumbeat that keeps giving and encouraging us to be our very best.
In his landmark book Mastery, George Leonard tells the story of Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo. According to legend, as Kano approached death, he called his students around him and asked to be buried in his white belt. The symbolism wasn’t lost. The highest-ranking martial artist of his discipline embraced the emblem of the beginner for his life and beyond, because to him the journey of the successful lifelong learner was never over.
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A final thought … note the power of replacing the word “mastery” with the word “holiness.” Holiness is a continuous, ongoing process … a journey, a trail, you take rather than a destination you arrive it. This perspective enables the concept of holiness to be much more reachable and possible. It also clearly implies that the pursuit of holiness never ends — it is a constant drumbeat that keeps giving and encouraging us to be our very best for God. (more on that in another post …)
…it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” —1 Peter 1:16
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