The Power of Mastery: Lessons from a 40+ Year Career

The Power of Mastery: Lessons from a 40+ Year Career

I went to a Tony Hadley concert last week. It was surprisingly good. Tony Hadley was the lead singer of Spandau Ballet, and he sang a few songs from 40 years ago plus some cover versions and newer material. His voice is still incredible. This experience made me think about longevity. For more than 40 years he has done the same thing and even sung the same songs but he seems to love it and the paying public certainly seems to love it. His talent has made him very wealthy and, I assume, his career has been very fulfilling.

This concept of mastery brings to mind the quote by Hong Kong-American famous martial arts expert and actor, Bruce Lee:

Careers and Longevity

We can explore the concept of longevity in careers. Is that the kind of career you would want, where you become exceptionally skilled at one thing, or even a subsection of one thing? This process may even start at school.

Education and Specialisation

There is a branch in Italian high schools that specialises in language learning. Students typically choose 3 foreign languages plus their native Italian language. However, many come out of high school with only a very basic knowledge of their 3 chosen foreign languages.

Is this the right approach?

Arguably not, if we take lessons from Tony Hadley and Bruce Lee. In my opinion, it would be better if students concentrated on only one foreign language but mastered it - to an Advanced or Proficiency level.

What About You?

• How do you think about these topics when it comes to your own language learning and careers?

• Do you want to learn English to an Advanced or Proficiency level?

• Do you want to specialise in one subject and become a world expert in that field?

Whatever direction you choose I guess that there is one thing that Tony Hadley and Bruce Lee would say they had in common - they never stop learning.

Minted - New £1 Coins in the UK

Nearly 2 years after Queen Elizabeth II’s death, new coins are coming into circulation with the new King Charles III’s head on one side.

However, what I find much more interesting is the designs on the ‘tails’ side. In honour of the King’s dedication to nature and conservation, all the new coins will feature images from the natural world.

This week the £1 coin entered circulation and it features 2 bees on the ‘tails’ side. Bees face many threats including habitat loss, climate change, pesticides and disease. King Charles hopes that depicting bees on the £1 coins will raise awareness and encourage conversation about these topics.

By the way, the verb to mint means to produce a new coin for a government.

Informally, to be minted is to be very rich.

What do you think about the new coins? Personally, I find them wonderful.

Combining My To-Do List with my Calendar

In last week’s newsletter, I mentioned the importance of my to-do list. In a previous newsletter, I talked about how I manage my time on my Calendar with Time Blocking. Let’s see how I combine the two.

At the start of the week, I have probably allocated my time for the week. A typical day may look like this:

The coloured areas represent my time blocks. While I know generally the area that I will be working on at various points throughout the day, I do not know exactly what I will be working on. For that, I have to look at my to-do list which will be divided into the same sections as appear on my calendar.

For example:

Project Management

• Contact Hotel ABC about prices and date change

• Sign Contract with Museum ABC

• Contact Hotel XYZ about menus

Investments

• Review company results for Company ABC

• Check the allocation of the portfolio

• Check portfolio for profit-taking opportunities

Newsletters

• Think of 4 topics for the September newsletters

• Outline the first newsletter on 4th September

• Finish newsletter for 21st August with ‘What’s in the news section’

Each item in my To-Do list will start with a verb. It is very easy to write say, ‘Company ABC’ some days ago but not remember what you actually have to do.

I will work on the general topic for the allocated time in the calendar, making sure that I complete any urgent tasks. Any remaining tasks will be tackled the next time the topic appears on my calendar. New tasks are constantly being added to my to-do list.

Are you able to manage your time in a similar way?

Word of the Day: Longevity

Longevity - noun - living for a long time or remaining popular or useful for a long time

Do you have any Business English Questions?

Please email me and I will do my best to answer them in future newsletters.

Until next Wednesday - have a great week!

Iain.

www.communicateenglish.com