The Dabbler

Taken from the book ""Mastery" by George Leonard. George gives a description of the three character types on the way to the masters journey." These are: The Dabbler, The Obsessive and the Hacker. This post will take a look at the first of these characters;

"The Dabbler"

Taken from Chapter 2 of the book Mastery."We will aspire to mastery but the paths always long and sometimes rocky and it promises no quick and easy payoffs. So we look for other paths, each of which attracts a certain type of person. Can you recognize in any of the following?"

The Dabbler

• Approches each new sport, career,business opportunity, relationship etc with enormous enthusiasm.
• Loves rituals involved in getting started, the spiffy equipment, the lingo the shine the newness.
• he's overjoyed by the first spurts of progress
• He/she cant wait for the next lesson
• The fall off from his first peak comes as a shock
• The plateau that follows is unacceptable if not incomprehensible. His/'her enthusiasm quickly wanes.
• He starts missing lessons, training, lectures, meetings

His mind starts to fill with rationalizations..this really isn't for me..this sport, career, business venture. Its too competitive, non competitive, aggressive, boring, dangerous whatever. He tells everyone that it just doesn't fulfill his unique needs.

Starting another sport, business, gives the Dabbler a chance to replay the scenario of starting up. Maybe he'll make it to the second plateau this time, maybe not. Then it's onto something else.

The Dabbler specialists in the following;

• New Jobs
• new office, new collegues
• salivates over projected earings
• has a long resume
• revels in seduction and surrender
• specializes in honeymoons.

To stay on the path ( like here at WA) of Mastery would mean changing him/herself. How much easier it is to jump into another bed and start the process all over again.

The Dabbler might think of himself as an adventurer, a connoisseur of novelty, but he's probably closer to being what Carl Jung calls the pueraeternus. The eternal kid. Though Partners change, he or she stay the same.

Ok there we are.. The Dabbler!! next post I will cover the second of the three characters The Obsessive".

Thanks for reading.. Please leave acomment much appreciated

Marcus