The notion of personal mastery sounds big,

lofty, perhaps even unattainable. We tend to

reserve the term mastery for people who are

top in their field, celebrated, or who possess

near super-human talent. Oprah Winfrey,

Tiger Woods, Eckhart Tolle, or Nancy

Pelosi may come to mind.

Don’t be discouraged. You can experi-

ence personal mastery today. You don’t have

to donate millions to charity, win a champi-

onship, write a best seller, or be elected to

high public office. If doing one or more of

those things is important to you, then, by

all means, go for it. But for most of us,

personal mastery can be achieved in our

day-to-day lives–at work, at home, in our

communities, and most importantly, within

ourselves.

Personal mastery is that feeling we have

when we set out to accomplish something

that’s important to us and succeed. It’s that

sense of satisfaction that comes with a job

well done, a goal accomplished, or an item

checked off the to-do list. The experience of

personal mastery can come from something

as small as making it to the gym after work

or as big as wrapping up a challenging,

complex project that will have a significant

financial impact on your practice.

DEFINE PERSONAL MASTERY

FOR YOURSELF

The first step in achieving a sense of person-

al mastery is knowing what creates it for

you. Defining personal mastery may depend

on where you are in your career or your

priorities and objectives. The young prac-

tice administrator driven to advance his

career may achieve personal mastery in

different ways than someone who has been

working in healthcare for 30 years and is

content to stay in his current position until

retirement. The office manager with small

children at home will define personal

mastery differently than the one whose chil-

dren are grown and on their own.

We all have routines and ways of doing

things that give us a sense of satisfaction. I

once worked with a man who made his to-

do list for the following day each afternoon

before he left his office. He scribbled it on a

yellow legal pad, and the list often filled the

page. When he arrived at his desk each

morning, he picked up his list, went

straight to work, and, almost without fail,

by the end of the day, his list was complete.

He’d then make his list for the next day, and

26 | PRACTICE MANAGER • MARCH 2007

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day whenyou lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, andyou’ve done it. –Lord Acton

personal mastery

REAPING THEREWARDS OF

by Karen Childress

so it went. When I watched my friend

honor his routine and saw the obvious

pleasure it gave him, I always felt like I was

in the presence of a master at work.

Think for a moment about what makes

you say, “I had a great day today” or “This

was a really good week.” Was it that you got

a lot done? Were you conscious of main-

taining a good balance between work and

your personal life? Was it that you made

time to take care of your-

self by exercising, medi-

tating, or getting enough

sleep? Did you accom-

plish a huge goal you’d

been working toward?

Having your own clear

definition of personal

mastery puts you on the

path to achieving it.

SELF-CONFIDENCE

AND SELF-ESTEEM

We’ve all heard people say, “I don’t have

enough self-confidence” or “I need to work

on my self-esteem.” Perhaps they had a

tough childhood or had some career

setbacks, or for whatever reason, they just

don’t feel positive about themselves and

their abilities. Good news: Self-confidence

and self-esteem are not like eye color or IQ.

They can be changed–bolstered, improved,

and enhanced.

Self-esteem and self-confidence are close

relatives, connected to each other in many

ways. When we feel confident in our abili-

ties, our self-esteem goes up. When our self-

esteem is high, we’re more likely to feel that

we can accomplish what we set out to do. A

significant factor in bolstering self-confi-

dence and self-esteem–and in achieving and

maintaining a sense of personal mastery–is

keeping the agreements we make with

ourselves and with others. It’s doing the

things we say are important to us. It’s stay-

ing true to our word.

MAKING, KEEPING, AND

RENEGOTIATING AGREEMENTS

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done:

The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, says self-

esteem is a key component to performance

and success and that not keeping agreements

we make with ourselves can quickly under-

mine self-esteem. This might be a surprise

coming from someone who Fast Company

magazine called “the personal productivity

guru,” but Allen is also an

advocate of being flexible

with agreements when

conditions, priorities, or

goals change.

“You need to know

what all of the agreements

are that you’ve made with

yourself,” says Allen, “but

you have options.” Allen

says it’s perfectly okay to

renegotiate agreements.

Once you’ve set out your

agreements with yourself, Allen says there are

three options: you can unmake an agreement,

keep an agreement, or you can renegotiate.

Unmaking an agreement may seem, at

first blush, to be a cop out. But, think of all

the times you’ve agreed to something in the

excitement of the moment only to realize

later that what you agreed to was not the

least bit important or interesting to you.

Sometimes unmaking an agreement isn’t fail-

ure, but rather the most responsible course of

action you can take.

Keeping an agreement is just that–doing

what you’ve said you’ll do. But what if you

want to keep an agreement and realize that

you can’t deliver exactly as you had original-

ly planned, that you can’t have it done by the

deadline you had set, or you realize halfway

through that the finish line has moved and

your strategy needs to be revised as a result?

Then it’s time to renegotiate–with yourself,

with your boss, with your team–with whoev-

er is involved or depending on you.

PRACTICE MANAGER • MARCH 2007 | 27

It may sound almost

unattainable, but

personal mastery–the

sense of satisfaction

and accomplishment–

can be achieved by

taking simple steps

for personal growth in

our careers and lives.

YOU CAN DO IT ALL …

JUST NOT ALL AT ONCE

Allen’s Getting Things Done productivity

system is based in large part on capturing

everything in one place. “Most people don’t

even know what their agreements are,” says

Allen. “You need to collect and organize all

your agreements, big and little, personal and

professional,” he says.

Some tasks or goals may be immediate, to

be done today or this week; others may be on

a list to do at some later date. Some priori-

ties, says Allen, can even be on the “some

day” list, without a deadline attached at all.

These “some day” items are on the list simply

so you won’t forget about them.

Once you know what is truly important

and you’ve prioritized things, it’s worth

spending some time clearing the decks of

distractions. “Our psyches can only handle

so much,” says Allen. “There is a lot of value

in cleaning up and shoring up,” he says.

Allen is an advocate of holding a “dumpster

day” to clean up files, systems, and space to

create the conditions necessary to accom-

plish tasks and achieve goals.

WHAT DERAILS YOU?

Even with the best intentions to follow

through on what we deem important, we

sometimes get off track. We get interrupted

with someone else’s priorities, we slip in

crisis management mode, we get sick, or we

just temporarily lose our momentum and

enthusiasm. Think for a moment about

what tends to derail you. The reasons may

be external and beyond your control. But

just as often, the causes are internal.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemies;

we slip into procrastination, perfectionism,

rationalization, or denial, or we become

overwhelmed.

“The biggest barrier to getting things

done is addiction to stress,” says Allen.

“Everyone has a certain quotient for stress. If

you don’t have enough [to meet your

quotient], you’ll create it. If the good fairy

shows up and empties your e-mail inbox,”

says Allen, “you’ll fill it up again to your

current comfort level, whether that’s 30 or

3,000 e-mails.”

Allen asks his clients how much stress

they’re willing to tolerate. Then, he says, the

question is, “What level of clarity and relax-

ation do I deserve, given who I really am.”

Now, that is a question with the potential to

uncover true personal mastery.

APPRECIATE YOURSELF

Personal mastery is, well, personal. What

you choose to do, the agreements you keep

with yourself, how you go about maintain-

ing self-confidence and self-esteem are

things that you decide for yourself. One

important component of enjoying personal

mastery on a regular basis is the ability to

appreciate ourselves, to pat ourselves on the

back.

Certified coach Betty Till works with

physicians and other healthcare profession-

als, helping them become better leaders and

take control of their business and personal

lives. She encourages clients to be their own

cheerleaders. “It’s nice to get praise and

recognition from others, but you can’t rely

on it,” says Till. “We have to find it within

ourselves. That’s what keeps us striving for

the next thing.”

So, the next time you find yourself in

awe of someone you consider to be master-

ful at something, keep in mind that you are

also a master–in big ways and in small ways,

at home and at the office. And you need

only look inward for the recognition and

acknowledgement to keep yourself on that

daily path of personal mastery.

Karen Childress is a Colorado-based

freelance writer. She writes about

personal growth, practice management,

and marketing.

28 | PRACTICE MANAGER • MARCH 2007

Think for a momentabout what tends to derail you. The

reasons may beexternal and beyond

your control. Butjust as often, the

causes are internal.Sometimes, we are

our own worstenemies.

stay ontrack

pm