A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty thousand times on one tree and get dinner.

Seth Godin, The Dip

With most people obsessed with multitasking, constant creativity and innovation, and speed, mastery can feel like a forgotten art. We are often told to “keep our options open,” to diversify our skills, to do a little bit of everything, yet this very spread often robs us of the depth required to become truly excellent at anything.

The Law of Mastery reminds us that while curiosity opens doors, commitment builds the house. To master anything, a craft, a discipline, a purpose, we must go deep enough to strike gold, not just scratch the surface.

The Illusion of Progress: When Busyness Replaces Breakthrough

Many people confuse movement with momentum. Like Seth Godin’s woodpecker, we peck at opportunities, projects, and goals without staying long enough to reach the core. We try a little of this, a little of that, new skills, new habits, new ventures, hoping that something will stick.

But mastery demands something the modern world fears: Patience and Repetition; it is the quiet, often invisible grind that transforms mediocrity into excellence. Progress happens not in the rush of scattered effort, but in the rhythm of focused persistence.

And as Cal Newport said in Deep Work, “The ability to perform deep work is becoming increasingly rare at exactly the same time it is becoming increasingly valuable.” The Law of Mastery is not just about doing more; it is very very much about doing what matters, deeply and deliberately.

Mastery is NOT the Sunk Cost Fallacy

At first glance, this law might sound like a cousin to the sunk cost fallacy; the psychological trap of sticking to something just because you have already invested time, effort, or money. But mastery and sunk cost fallacy are not the same.

In the sunk cost fallacy, we persist out of fear, afraid to admit failure, afraid to start over, but in mastery, we persist out of clarity, knowing that we are digging in the right place.

The difference lies in intentionality. Mastery is a calculated pursuit you have already  evaluated, adjusted, and committed because the path aligns with your purpose and potential; it is not just a stubborn attachment; it is strategic endurance.

So yes, quitting what does not serve you is wise, but quitting what is hard because it is hard is the death of mastery.

I’m sure we have all been there and maybe you might still be there at this very moment, reading this article; it’s one of those sneaky little mental traps that keeps us stuck in things longer than we should be. 

At its core, the sunk cost fallacy is when you keep investing time, energy, or resources into something just because you’ve already put a lot into it even when it’s clear that moving on would be the better choice. Instead of making a fresh decision based on what’s best right now, you let the thought of your past investment weigh you down.

It’s like your brain has this built-in bias that says, “I can’t quit now, I’ve already spent too much on this,” you know one of those many things we tell ourselves, but hey, here is the thing: what’s already spent is gone! It’s in the past! It’s a “sunk cost,” meaning it can’t be recovered; yet, instead of cutting our losses and making a smart choice for the future, we continue to dig in deeper, because we are hoping to justify the time, energy, resources, and attention we’ve already put in, and the deeper we go the darker the hole will get.

Continue Reading: The Sunk Cost Fallacy

Mastery and the “Jack of All Trades” Principle

You have probably heard the phrase: “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” But few know the full version: “…but oftentimes better than a master of one.”

At its heart, this saying is NOT a warning against range; it is a call to balanced depth. The Law of Mastery does NOT demand that you reject versatility or curiosity; it calls you to focus your mastery within your range.

Being a “jack of many” is valuable, if you are intentional about where you apply depth. The polymath (a person with expertise in multiple different fields of study, characterized by a high degree of curiosity and the ability to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve problems) thrives not because they know everything, but because they integrate knowledge from many fields into one deep pursuit.

So the Law of Mastery and the principle of versatility are not opposites; they are complements. Breadth helps you connect ideas. Depth helps you create something that lasts.

Mastery is Never a Waste When Done with Purpose

When done rightly, mastery is never wasted time. Even if you do not end up “succeeding” in the conventional sense, the process itself transforms you. Every repetition builds discipline, every setback teaches discernment, and every hour spent honing your craft refines your ability to think, act, and create with excellence.

True mastery is not about control; it is very very much about character. It molds patience, resilience, and focus, qualities that outlast any single skill or career.

So when you commit to mastery, you are not just perfecting a task; you are very very much perfecting yourself.

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Conclusion

Mastery is not monotony; it is meaning found through consistency; it is the quiet joy of knowing that your efforts compound, that your growth is not random but intentional.

You can explore many trees, but when you find the one that matters: Stay! Tap it with purpose! Tap it with your heart! Because the deeper you go, the richer the fruit becomes!