Total Immersion

A man who devotes his entire life to mastery of a thing. A man who lives with the intention to master every aspect of a thing. A man who turns every stone, drains every puddle, and examines every leaf. A man who ponders the physics, the underworkings of a thing, and at 2:38 a.m. under the moonlight or next to a candle, a man ponders the true nature of a thing. A man who spends every waking moment in the pursuit of a thing organically becomes a grandmaster.

Why is total immersion so difficult? Because we are told to have balance in our life. We believe we need breaks. On those breaks, instead of examining our interactions or efforts, instead of studying our vantage point from a different aspect, we distract ourselves with mindless consumption. Each distraction is a gunshot. It takes the body and the spirit precious time to recover from every wound. Those 30 second reels on Instagram have a 30 minute effect on your ability to refocus and re-engage. When aware of this effect, it’s easier to stay locked in. It’s easier to leave the phone in another room. Distracting yourself is just taking you further from your goal.

Exposure to the life of grandmasters is uncommon. We see their highlights and memorize their accolades. We may have heard of their work ethic, but we do not get a glimpse of it. We don’t get to see it firsthand. In many ways, we don’t want to see it because it’s not entertaining. Kobe’s 4 a.m. workouts followed by four more training sessions every single day. His 4 a.m. training the day after winning his championships after being up until 2 a.m. Elon Musk sleeping under his desk near the assembly line in the Tesla factory. Ocho-Cinco sleeping in the Bengal Stadium his first two years in the league. If every waking moment is spent on the craft, living it, breathing it, feeling every edge of it, success is inevitable. In fact, it chases after one. Why? Because the man who devotes himself in this way does not need success. he is not doing it for success.  He is simply doing what he set out to do.