This is where we’ve not just built up strategies and knowledge and experience, but all of those blend together to make us expert decision makers and problem solvers.

When we’re at this stage we’re able to respond intuitively to complex challenges, quickly and accurately. More importantly, by reaching levels of mastery in ANY skill, we build a whole host of mental and emotional skills which make us confident at facing new challenges.

This step is about so much more than just learning the skills we’ve been chasing, it’s about becoming the kind of person who can master something to its fullest potential.

We see things in a way that only an expert can see them, predicting problems, creating efficient and effective solutions. We’re creative and intuitive and all of that gives us a sense of confidence.

Our intuition is one of our greatest strengths now, we learn to trust our instincts and how we feel when we’re deploying our skills. Sometimes it’s almost like a magic trick the way we’re able to do complex and impressive things, seemingly effortlessly.

Overconfidence is definitely one of the prices that we pay for this though! When we become an expert, sometimes there’s no reason to keep on pushing the limits of our skills and challenging ourselves. This is why learning persistence early on is so important, and being part of a community that focuses not on being an expert, but the journey to get there.

While there’s always still challenges to face and room for improvement, these learners are looking at it in a whole new light.

One of the best parts about reaching this stage is that it often teaches us what we can accomplish when we set our minds to it. It’s important for young people to learn this early, that they can achieve amazing things with enough time, guidance and resilience.

Those who are at the Mastery stage are able to take the strategies that they learned and developed along the way and apply them to new frontiers, picking up new skills more quickly and effectively.

Reaching high levels of skills which are often unrivalled by those around us can often put us into a state of complacency. It’s not always just the case that we want to be the best, but we can believe that there’s nothing left for us to learn.

This complacency can mean that we become inflexible in applying our expertise, or that we suffer from skill decay as we stop practising. Without continuous challenge, we can also begin to over-automate processes which can mean we start to make mistakes or suffer from distraction.

Disengagement and quitting at the stage of Mastery is most often associated with a belief that there’s nothing left to gain from this skill. However once we’re at the top of a skill set, it just means that we’ve got blue sky ahead to set the new standards.

When your Risky Kid has reached the Mastery Stage, the most common behaviours you’re likely to see will be:

• Complex, high level skills which are really impressive!
• Self esteem and confidence linked to an identity with the skill as a big part of it,
• Possible diminishing effort as complacency sets in,
• Possible disengagement with the belief that there’s nothing left to learn,

In the case of your Risky Kids learning going well at this stage, make sure to celebrate it with them! If they do disengage, make sure to validate how they feel, but not their desire to quit.

At this stage families should be talking to their Risky Kids about how they’re now responsible for setting the new standards, of pushing the limits of what the highest skill is! Similarly, by passing on knowledge to new and emerging members of the community, not only do experts prevent skill decay, but they develop deeper and more intuitive understanding of their skills.

Statements like “I’m sure you’ve learned everything you can” should be replaced with “You’ve accomplished so much, with everything you know how can you set the new standards?”. For more advice on navigating disengagement, check out our articles on The Art Of Quitting! Most importantly, work with your Risky Kids team if you see early signs of disengagement.

The most important thing to understand about all of this is that as much as some of this is predictable and will help you, everyone’s experience is going to be different. We have to guide people through this process, not push or pull them. We need to balance out letting them make decisions, with making sure they have all of the information they need to make the ones which are the best.

One of the best parts about learning though, is it’s not easy. It will teach us the importance of persistence and determination if we let it. For young people, this is especially important and we should ensure that we’re giving them the opportunities to experience wherever we can, and never being too quick to remove them from situations where they’re struggling.

If at any time you need help or guidance or assistance on how to navigate learning, resilience or risk with your young people, don’t hesitate to reach out to your Risky Kids team.