The following is an excerpt from my book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress. To purchase copies for you and your entire team, click HERE or on the image provided.
The World’s Greatest Sushi Chef
Jiro Ono is the world’s greatest sushi chef. His restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, has received the prestigious Michelin Guide’s top three-star status from 2007 to 2019. As told in Ryan Hawk’s excellent book The Pursuit Of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors Of The World’s Most Productive Achievers, President Obama has even dined at his restaurant. (You can order Hawk’s book by clicking HERE.)
What makes this story more fascinating is the restaurant is located in a subway station in Tokyo and can only seat ten people at a time. Ono, who is ninety-six years old, has been preparing sushi for over seventy years. Because of his legendary status within the industry, Ono was the subject of the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi.
Words of Wisdom
When asked how he became the best in the world, Ono gave the secret to his success. He said, “Once you decide on your occupation, you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That is the secret to success.”
Ono added, “All I want to do is to make better sushi. I do the same thing over and over, improving it bit by bit. There is always a yearning to achieve more. I’ll continue to climb, trying to reach the top, but no one knows where the top is. I’ve never once hated this job and gave my life to it…. Even at my age, after decades of work, I don’t think I have achieved perfection.”
5 Things Required To Master Your Craft
As I read the comments of this legendary culinary genius, I gleaned five things required to master your craft:
Mastery Requires a Decision
Ono said, “Once you decide on your occupation.” While it is good to experiment with different jobs early in your career, there comes a time you must commit to something if you ever want to produce superior results. Indecisiveness or a lack of commitment will eventually derail your efforts toward mastering your craft.
Mastery Requires Complete Immersion
Those who master their craft are not part-time or “dipping their toes in the water.” They are all-in. Ono noted, “you must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work. Never complain about your job. You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill.”
Mastery Requires a Single Focus
To achieve mastery you must have a “this one thing I do” type of mentality. There cannot be a number of competing interests in your life. Ono added, “All I want to do is to make better sushi.” How many things do you want to do in your life? If the answer is many, you will not likely achieve mastery or have high production.
Mastery Requires Improved Repetition
This type of repetition is not just focused on developing muscle memory or getting in your 10,000 hours. It is doing the same thing over and over again with an eye on self-evaluation and constant improvement. Ono continued, “I do the same thing over and over, improving it bit by bit.”
Mastery Requires a Healthy Sense of Dissatisfaction
Finally, mastering your craft is an oval track with no finish line. You never truly arrive as a leader. It is similar to accumulating knowledge. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. Ono is the greatest sushi chef in the world and, at ninety-six years old, has an insatiable desire to improve. He concluded, “There is always a yearning to achieve more. I’ll continue to climb, trying to reach the top, but no one knows where the top is…. Even at my age, after decades of work, I don’t think I have achieved perfection.”
If the most decorated sushi chef in the world with seventy years of experience feels he can improve, then surely you and I should have humility to admit we can as well.
This was an excerpt from my book Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress. To purchase copies for you and your entire team, click HERE or on the image below.
