3 Personalities That Are Obstacles to Mastery: Which One Are You?

"We all aspire to mastery, but the path is always long and sometimes rocky, and it promises no quick and easy payoffs," writes George Leonard in his book Mastery. Therefore, we search for other paths, each of which attracts a specific kind of person. The Dabbler, the Obsessive, and the Hacker are the different personalities that represent those "other paths" that Leonard is writing about. 

Every one of us can relate to at least one of these characters, if not a mix of the three. The characteristics of these personalities can also throw us off course from our path to mastery and success if we don't know what to look out for.

The Personality of Dabbler 

The rush of trying something new like new careers, hobbies, relationships, etc. is what dabblers love. They'll jump at the chance to try any new sport, job, or relationship. They purchase all the equipment, tell all their friends and make social media posts about it. They adore the "newness's shine." They enjoy the first bursts of progress that come with picking up the fundamentals of a new skill, so they don't mind putting in the initial work to learn something new.

However, Dabblers give up as soon as they experience a true challenge, particularly if it results in them losing some of the initial progress they made. Beginners enjoy taking on new tasks. They are unbelievably thrilled about them. But as the peak starts to fade, they search elsewhere for another opportunity. For example, they make a tennis lesson appointment. They purchase new equipment like the prettiest racquet for tennis. And when they finally master hitting a tennis ball, they are overjoyed. Despite this, as time goes on and they see that improving their stroke will take time, they begin to consider trying a different sport.

Dabblers are experts at excuses and justifications. They just aren't cut out for this new career, sport or relationship. They are stunned by the abrupt stops in action. They'll tell you that the level of competition is either too high or too low. They will claim it is overly boring. or excessively risky. They might also realize all of a sudden that they don't have enough time for it. Once they've sufficiently explained why they ought to give up, the Dabbler does what they always do, which is to focus on something different.

In short, the Dabbler is someone who starts something new, enjoys the thrill of instant results, eventually reaches a point of saturation and then finds an excuse to give up and move on to something else. 

The Personality of Obsessive

Their only concern is getting results and getting them quickly. They are therefore equally as shocked as the Dabbler when they reach their limit. But rather than quitting, they double down. They fail to acknowledge the fact that mastery requires practice and patience. They have no trouble working hard, but they struggle with dedicating the necessary time as they want to master the tennis stroke and hit the ball flawlessly from the first lesson. How come they can't then? They apply even more pressure.

To create a continuous upward curve, they push and push and push. However, they overextend themselves and exhaust themselves as a result. What then do they do? Of course, they search for shortcuts. They search for more and more crutches and cheats to help them achieve the outcomes they desire as they attempt to stay on the path when things get harder. When using these kinds of shortcuts, the Obsessive becomes so fixated on outcomes that they fail to recognize the long-term harm they cause to themselves.

The Obsessive looks like today's standard bottom-line business executive in many ways. At all costs, they aim to maintain an upward-biased profit curve, even if it requires significant workforce reductions, research and development pauses and a break from long-term profitability and planning. The Obsessive demands results now! The Obsessive goes to great lengths to maintain his connection with others. However, their relationship turns into a wild ride filled with turbulent breaks and passionate reunions. 

If you can't master algebra, you can't master calculus. When you attempt to juggle four balls, you will unavoidably make mistakes if you never learn how to do it correctly with just three balls. However, the Obsessive is unable to understand this. They reject the idea that mastery builds upon itself and needs a strong foundation. And in the long run, it causes them great pain.

In a nutshell, an Obsessive experiences an upward curve, a point of peak impatience, an attempt to push past it and advance to the next level and finally a sharp decline as their gas runs out.

The Personality of Hacker

The Hacker, the third personality, is a bit different. Hackers start fairly well and make decent progress, but eventually, they lose interest. They quit trying to get better as soon as they've learned enough to be content with their current circumstances. Sometimes they're so good at their jobs that they don't even realize they've put themselves on autopilot, they may wonder why they never get promoted.

Overall, the hacker is someone who simply goes about hacking without trying to learn new skills or advance beyond their current level of expertise.

Identify and Break Out of It

In certain circumstances, a single person can become one, two, or all three of these personas. But if you don't break the habits that go along with each style, you'll never truly become a master in your area.

To understand why you might not be on the path of mastery, it is important to learn about these three characters and which one you most identify with. After that, begin taking the necessary steps, the steps that are the opposite of these personas, to turn away from the path of the dabbler, obsessive or hacker and toward the mastery path.

Determine which of the three characters best describes you by quickly listing some recent endeavors you've undertaken (jobs, sports, talents, etc.) along with your method for tackling them. This will help you determine whether you're more of a Hacker, an Obsessive, or a Dabbler. Knowing your habits will make it simpler to identify them when you're trying to master something you truly care about.