May 3 | 2023 — VIII of Pentacles
YOU BETTAH WERK! It’s Wednesday, and I’m fresh back from a brief vacation to Austin to see the fabulous Patti LuPone in concert. It was a great time and we met up with a good friend, had some great food, and had some much-needed time to just kinda recharge. So it’s slightly amusing that today is the VIII of Pentacles as I have quite a bit of work to catch up on from the last two days.
The VIII of Pentacles is a brilliantly straightforward card. If you recall, this is the card of Mastery. When you put in the work, you hone your craft and you reap the rewards (a la IX of Pentacles).
There is a theory brought around by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers: The Story of Success that it takes 10,000 hours to master something. 10,000 hours is almost 14 months or about 416 days. Of course, no one practices 24/7, so the practical time it takes is much longer. If you practiced for 3 hours a day, it would take just over 9 years to master your skill based on this theory. Certainly puts some perspective on expertise in an area.
Message of the Day: Do I really think it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something? Nah. Something broad like playing the piano or violin — perhaps. Something focused like making an omelet? Hell no. Give it a week or two of making omelets in a breakfast station at a restaurant and you’ll get it down. That’s probably 30 hours at most. Could you imagine 10,000 hour of omelets? Ouch, my cholesterol.
Plus, doing something repetitively doesn’t necessarily make you an “expert.” There are a lot of other things to take into consideration. Just the basics of genetic aptitude make a difference. I mean, if you are tone-deaf, I don’t know that 10,000 hours of voice lessons is going to thrust you into the winner’s circle of America’s Got Talent.
But there are some things that ARE necessary for mastering a skill beyond the time spent going through the motions. From 6seconds.org (a website about developing emotional intelligence — note, I am not affiliated with this website and really don’t know anything about them -but what I read in this article makes perfect sense to me), there are three research-backed principles that are associated with mastery.
- Setting the right biological conditions. Some people recommend that you check your emotions at the door when you are practicing or working to hone a skill. However, research has indicated this to be counter-productive. I assume that most people mean, “Don’t practice with a bad attitude.” That’s because negative emotions (frustration, irritation, anger, etc.) can cause careless mistakes to creep into your work — so it makes to check them. However, passion, love, and pride can also help propel your work forward. Finding a way to remain calm and balanced, being both cognitively and emotionally aware, will help you move forward faster than mindlessly going through the motions. There can be growth in coordination and emotional capacity by fine-tuning your skill. After all, a performer may have the technical mastery to play Mozart’s Violin Concerto #3 in G Major, but if they don’t have the emotional foundation, it will be devoid of life and passion — something a robot or computer could have produced.
- Mental practice works too. Sometimes we aren’t able to take the time to physically engage in our skill for whatever reason. Research has found that taking the time to go through mental exercises regarding your skill also lends to improvements in performance. This is also important for reinforcing positive habits. In a sense, it’s a form of manifestation; you envision the process and the desired outcome.
- Motivation. If you don’t want to do it, you’re wasting your time. You will make mistakes. You will be careless. You will be restless and unfocused. The author of this article says, “Practice takes on meaning and relevance when the goal is connected to purpose and long-term values.” Finding the motivation to work in a focused state on a routine basis must be tied to some form or value. Sometimes identifying that motivating factor can be difficult, especially with kids (when the only motivating factor is because their parents said they have to do it).
If you take these concepts and apply them inward, it becomes more insightful. For example, there are skills we have to work on with our kiddo because he’s growing up and trying to find/fighting us to the death for his independence. Learning to deal with this new form of assholism that he has suddenly embraced requires adaptation on our part. Using these three skills (biological conditions, mental practice, and motivation), we can (hopefully) find a way to practice necessary parenting from a perspective of positive growth instead of emotional outbursts that leave everyone feeling flustered, angry, and burnt out. These are areas I KNOW I need to work on.
Other forms of self-mastery may regard modifications to your diet or your vices. It could be mastering your personal finances and putting yourself on a path forward for financial stability and growth. There are countless areas where these principles could be applied for personal self-growth.
The VIII of Pentacles asks us:
- What in your life would you consider yourself an expert? How did you get there? What was your motivating factor?
- How can/does manifestation fit into your experience of honing a skill?
- If you are committed to focused self-mastery, what do you do to stay focused? How do you keep a healthy physical and emotional mindset to continue long-term?
Decks shown above:
Originally posted on Pixel-Tarot.com on May 3, 2023.
