Student or Master?

I’m weird. I recently decided that it’d be a brilliant idea to learn to how skateboard at twenty-eight years old. I’m a nimble six foot three, two hundred and fifteen pounds. And, I’m going out on a limb to self-diagnose myself with a rare balance inhibiting inner ear disorder.

It’s not pretty.

Now that I think about it, it’s probably the biggest reason I decided to take it on in the first place. I knew it’d be terribly challenging. I’m having flash backs to that time I took only cold showers for five months just because it was a challenge. Again.. I’m weird.

But, what do I know? I know I’d pick being a student over being a master any day. Being student yields more fruit than claiming status as a master, plain and simple. That’s where growth is. In that way, I seek out opportunities to be a student of the game.

[Here’s the part where I try to convince you to think the same.]

I get that it’s cool to be the expert (especially in Los Angeles). Being the head honcho, or the expert, feels good, gets recognition, and can get you paid. But, that’s it. Plus, it takes energy to validate your position as the master that you could spend in actually getting better instead of posing.

Being the student in the trenches keeps you mobile. It sharpens your edges, and is a perpetual teacher of character. It literally promises growth. And, here’s the real secret: Master’s can be students, too.

 

Logan Gelbrich

@functionalcoach