How to Master Anything (in 3 Steps)

In all of the older texts, yoga is referred to as a science. It is the science of life, the science of how to find peace within and despite the whirlwind of events that surround us on a daily basis. The Yoga Sutras is the manuscript of yoga. It is the instruction manual for how to live, because living with inner peace is the ultimate goal of yoga. (Inexplicably, the perfect headstand does not appear anywhere in this instruction manual!)

Within the Yoga Sutras, you will find gems of info that not only help you discover peace but also help in day-to-day life. One of these wise nuggets is how to move towards any goal with inevitable success. If these three principles are applied to anything you wish to achieve, you will undoubtedly find wonderful results.

This info can be found in the first book, 14th verse, of the Yoga Sutras (1:14): Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.

Let's move through this one piece at a time.

A Long Time

We must attend to our intentions and goals for a long time. Many of us have a desire to master something after just one or two attempts. The Yoga Sutras tell us that this is not the path. In fact, you have to be willing to commit to a goal for a long time. The amount of time? Not stated BUT the idea is along the lines of years, not days.

Without Break

You know that New Year's resolution that you stuck to for 3 weeks and then let slide...then you came back to for a week or so in April...and then again for a few days in October? Unfortunately, this is not the type of behavior that will lead to growth towards a goal or aspiration. If we are to make long term progress, we need to be willing to commit to a goal without taking breaks. An off and on again practice will not reap benefits.

In All Earnestness

When working towards a goal, we need to try our hardest every day. This does not mean we are pushing ourselves beyond our limits. On a day when you feel 50%, you should give 50%. It means we show up and we apply our energy to the best of our ability every time.

These 3 qualities are general in nature but can guide you successfully to any goal. 

An Example!

I don't know if this is believable or not, but I never intended to be a yoga teacher. (For the record, I wanted to be a marine biologist who saved the whales.) Owning a yoga studio was not on my 10 year plan even in my wildest imagination. However, in terms of my yoga practice, I accidentally applied these three magical qualities.

I started yoga because it helped my emotional stability. I felt better after each class, so I kept going. I was not going to yoga to become a better person or to grow spiritually. I simply wanted to feel calmer as I moved through my days. Because it was working for me, I kept going to class. Every week. For years. Without break. In all earnestness.

Without intending to, I became well grounded in my practice. I learned more and more, attended workshops, and completed trainings. I was not attached to the results of any of this. I simply wanted to continue feeling great. One day, I looked around and realized I actually knew quite a bit. I was asked to teach a class and was surprised to see that I was capable of doing so. Years went by and here we are now.

Psst...This is hard!

These three qualities sound so general that they would be easy to dismiss. I just talked it through with my husband and he rolled his eyes at me! If you think about anything you have accomplished in your life, however, these are the qualities you followed.

As easy or general as they may sound, this is very challenging to implement. It is why I am not a fantastic guitar player even though I started taking lessons (for the first time) in 2018. I have not focused on the guitar without break. I am very off and on. It is also why I started the book Les Miserables and have yet to complete it. I did not commit myself to this book for a long time. If you think about any goal you have NOT completed in your life, you will see that at least one of these three qualities was missing. 

Reframe

For a long time. Without break. In all earnestness.

We can also reframe these qualities to use more current terms. Perhaps we think about applying ourselves to our goals in these ways:

• Patience, devotion, faith

OR

• Endurance, commitment, discipline

Whatever words you choose, allow these three ingredients to guide the way. When all else fails, harness your inner Dory from Finding Nemo: Just keep swimming.