Whom do we need – a Master, a Leader, or a Teacher as our Superior? It depends on the individual.

Suppose one needs a Master. Then, if they find a Leader and start serving him, their natural potential will not be revealed, and they will become frustrated. Likewise, if one finds a Teacher, they will not be able to learn anything from him, as one will not understand his answers to one’s own questions.

If we need to gain mastery, we need to find a Master. The very possibility to find a Master can only be realized if we abstain from deliberately sorting through different skills and asking ourselves: is this suitable for us to learn, or should we choose another? Instead, we have a chance of finding our Master by going as an apprentice to any encountered Master, whose craft would be useful, regardless the fact if we like or consider it as our destiny or not. This is because the path to our destiny, to our natural purpose, can only be taken one step at a time, gradually. This is only possible through becoming skilful in many practically useful pursuits.

There could be no progress in mastering any craft as long as we remain hired employees or practice business as entrepreneurs. Even if we consider ourselves an apprentice, continuing to work for an employer will inevitably make us passive, and continuing to do our own business, will only make us sly. This is because development requires a unidirectional Source, which cannot be expected to appear when one is on a salary, or one is focused entirely on profit.

However, for a graduate of a college on a certain level of self-development, to become a hired employee is a step up in his evolution. Likewise, when a salaried employee becomes an entrepreneur, it is also a definite progress. It is quite difficult for a high school graduate to become an entrepreneur, not everyone can do it. It is also quite difficult for a salaried worker to become an apprentice, more so than for an entrepreneur to take this step. Naturally, an entrepreneur has the experience of acting completely on their own in business, and knows first-hand what professionalism is, or how to discern if there is none. In this sense, the office worker has much less experience, and therefore has a harder time finding a Master amongst the people advertising their trades and professions.

As we can see, finding a Master is a quite difficult task. Finding a Leader or a Teacher is proportionally harder, for the corresponding functions are higher in their significance. However, one has to pass through the step of being an apprentice with a Master, in order to develop useful skills that one can use when becoming a servant to a Leader.

Even a teenager can become the disciple of a Teacher. However, only if we have mastered useful skills and performed a service to a Leader, can we start to ask meaningful questions to the Teacher, answers to which will help us in our development. The most meaningful and powerful questions to the Teacher are coming from the true Leader who himself has people serving him, not to be confused with the office workers motivated entirely by the salary.

One would think everything is clear now. But in real life, any particular office worker, even the one who wholeheartedly agreed with what has been discussed above, would feel frozen, as if enchanted or paralyzed, unable to act according to this understanding. He will continue to waste the time in the social networks or by watching YouTube videos on “related topics”, but will not start a business promptly. Those few who do actually try to start a business, most will retreat back because, naturally, their businesses would predictably fail at their first amateur attempt. One would need to make incommensurate efforts to start the process.

Here it is important to dwell a bit more on the state of powerlessness inherent to any office worker. The reasons for this weakness are: the regular fixed salary with the possibility of its growth, the lulling stability from month to month, absence of any unfamiliar dangers, as well as possible promotions and bonuses that provide a false feeling of self-importance. All of these are further aggravated by the need to pay off monthly bills, loans, and the mortgage. The true root cause that unites all of those is the fear, which paralyzes the will to act, and transfixes the mind.

The only way to solve this fear-induced paralysis is to do exactly what one is afraid to do. The goal is to transcend one’s own fear, one step at a time, in the most intimidating of directions, so that in case something happens one could flee back to the familiar environment. By taking those small steps regularly in the directions that we fear to tread, we will gradually learn to walk upon our fears, as we walk on the pavement. Only then can we proceed higher.

To abolish our standardized behaviour and reactions, one must start doing something unusual. It was this standardized environment that brought us into the Incubator. Therefore, the more the individual is doing strange and unusual things, the more experience they are gaining of what they are afraid of, the faster they will transcend their fears and paralyzing weakness, and start at least their own business.

Image by Artem Beliaikin from Unsplash.com