Moving from competence to virtuoso level is much more daunting than moving from beginner to competence because when you're competent, to most people you're "good."   Realizing that you're not "good enough" is the beginning of the wisdom necessary to truly become a master . . .

I've been pondering lately about master artists....or masters in any field for that matter.  Why don't more of us become masters?  Why am I still a "software craftsman" and not a "software virtuoso?"

I remember a few years ago, one of my favorite painters, Kevin Macpherson, cancelled all his shows and workshops and essentially just practiced his painting for about a year.  This makes me think of of "Deliberate Practice" - the theory of K. Anders Ericsson.  In a nutshell, the theory says that practice doesn't make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.

Most of us stop at being competent because, most of the time, competent is good enough.  But to be really great requires that we keep pushing ourselves.  Being great is not just a matter of continuing our craft every day...but being deliberate about learning new things daily....making sure that we push ourselves to that "next level."  You could paint every single day for the rest of your life and stay at the same competence level without that deliberate "push" to grow.

Moving from competence to virtuoso level is harder than moving from beginner to competence because when you're competent, to most people you're "good." 

I think developing an attititude of "I'm not good enough" is healthy -- it keeps us pushing.  That must be why Kevin was willing to cancel his (lucrative) shows to focus on pushing himself....he felt that "good" wasn't "good enough." 

And if you're objective is to be a great artist...."good" isn't "good enough."