Have you ever mastered a skill? If you use the Merriam-Webster’s definition of the verb, it means “to become skilled or proficient in the use of” or “to gain a thorough understanding of.” Adopting this definition, have you mastered any skills in your life such as riding a bike, driving a car, or speaking another language? Have you become a master craftsman at carpentry, masonry, or painting? Since my life seems to be more about tinkering than mastering, I’m not confident that I would ever say that I’ve mastered a skill. Acquired a skill, yes! Mastered, probably not, unless of course you include creating scrapbooks…maybe I’ve mastered that one!

Coming to my attention a few months ago when I enrolled in an online course about college teaching, the term Masterclass has engaged my reticular activating system (more on that topic in a later post)! Intrigued with the terminology, I began investigating (Enneagram 5w6) how the term was derived. It seems everywhere I look, someone is tagging the word “Masterclass” to market their version of expertise on a specific topic. After a quick online search, I surmised that a masterclass is basically a lesson or group of lessons where a claimed expert is giving advice to a group of students. There also exists a company called MasterClass, an American online education platform, that was created in 2014 and allows people access to enroll in classes on a variety of subjects. So, my conclusion is that if someone is teaching a masterclass, they have indeed mastered a skill and are now passing that knowledge onto others.

As this journey continues into the discovery of what it means to live a flourishing life, where can I find the expert who has designed the Masterclass on Life? Hmmm…maybe that’s the reason for the numerous books available in stores and in libraries. No one has been able to acquire the magic formula that every single human on this planet can follow which will lead them onto a path for a successful life. Because everyone’s journey is different, no one path can be taken; therefore, I return to the idea of having multiple mentors, especially intergenerational relationships, that illuminate various paths successful people have taken on their pilgrimage to a flourishing life.

Now, if some expert were to accept the challenge to create a Masterclass on Life that I could encourage my students to enroll in so they might be equipped for a flourishing life, I do offer one suggestion for a textbook that might be essential to the coursework. It’s hard to top using a best-seller as the foundation and with over five billion copies sold and distributed, who can argue with using the Bible? Just reading through the book of Proverbs alone offers sound advice any mentor would recommend following.

However, we all know how difficult a course that would be to teach; and I know I’m unqualified to teach a Masterclass on Life, but we all need guidance and counsel to navigate our days on this earth, so we must start somewhere. Suggesting emerging adults locate wise mentors who are in various Seasons of a Professional’s Life is a wonderful place to begin, especially when those mentors are using the foundations of Scripture to guide their own path. No one’s journey will follow the exact same path as another, but there are people whose experiences can illuminate our own path. And I’m specifically going to seek out those people whose lives mirror the Habits of a Flourishing Life because I firmly believe that they are onto a philosophy that I, too, should embrace. There may not be any experts available to instruct the Masterclass of Life, but I know people who have mastered specific skills, and it’s those flourishing people that I will choose to model as they illuminate the path God has set out for me!

Who do you know who has mastered a certain skill? How can we learn from these experts what it means to flourish at something? Please feel free to share in the comments below.

Related blog posts: Seasons of a Professional’s Life | Habits of a Flourishing Life | When Was the Last Time You Tinkered?