The Apprentice

Whether a player or coach, you seek mastery. But you serve an apprenticeship, "paying your dues" through concentrated effort and developing experience. Observation, skill building, and creativeness all participate.

Expecting success, recognition, renown, or riches without the requisite sacrifice, belief, and patience is unrealistic and disingenuous.

Robert Greene's Mastery discusses the apprenticeship in detail. For example, seeking entry into writing, Benjamin Franklin entered a nine-year apprenticeship in a print shop. This afforded him exposure to both the trade and the output (books, pamphlets, etc.) to study.

In medicine, we have a saying during training - see one, do one, teach one. That applies to study, feedback, and teaching. The students and residents get intense experience and supervision, working up to eighty hours a week.

8 Strategies for the Ideal Apprenticeship from Robert Greene

Most professions organize training to last over 10,000 hours. Bill Bradley began a practice regimen of three hours daily and eight hours on Saturday beginning at age twelve. He lacked quickness, athleticism, and ballhandling skill as a youngster and made himself into a great player. He forged a spectacular basketball career at Princeton, played professionally in New York, and became a United States Senator.

In creating your apprenticeship, seek mentoring and education that provides you the training and experience that can help you achieve your goals. Understand that it won't be easy, will require discipline and sacrifice, and it begins with understanding "this is how it works." Some trainees find that their expectations don't mesh with reality. That can create frustration or worse.

Good training forces you out of your comfort zone. It demands you stretch yourself (physical play, emotional toughness, increase breadth and depth of skills) and 'rewire' your brain through appropriate repetitions.

But having sufficient commitment to your field and process is where it all begins.