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Master of One is latest book by entrepreneur and author, Jordan Raynor. I first became familiar with Raynor via Instagram and have been following him for a while now. When I received the invitation to review his latest book I was really excited. I suspected that I would like Master of One but as I was reading it, I found that I really love it! Raynor begins his book by explaining the meaning behind the title. There is the common adage, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” However, this was a misquote of the original phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of one.” The book emphasizes excellent mastery over the skills that God has gifted you with and encourages readers to use those skills vocationally for the glory of God and good of others.
The opening chapter, titled Excellence in All Things, highlights 3 lies that are typically perpetuated when it comes to pursuing excellence in our work. The lies are: 1. You Can Be Anything You Want to Be, 2. You Can Do Everything You Want to Do, and 3. Your Happiness is the Primary Purpose of Work. Seeing that Raynor acknowledged these popular notions as lies was very refreshing. In essence, all of these lies sound wonderful but they are truly unrealistic. I appreciate that Raynor is honest with his readers. Many current authors tend to be misleading readers by writing what is untrue in order to garner sales. Thankfully Raynor does not fall into this category. By beginning the book this way, he earns the respect of his readers and builds a bridge to share with them why we each ought to pursue mastery in one area.
One aspect that I really enjoyed in Master of One is the real life examples of those who love Christ and pursue excellence in their work. There are a few examples of famous individuals and there are examples of ordinary people like a NICU nurse and a CEO. I enjoyed the variety of examples because it demonstrated that being a master of one isn’t something that is attainable only for a certain group of people. Reading this book really caused me to think about what being a master of one looks like in my life. I believe that God has gifted me with the ability to write and reading Master of One has inspired me to be a faithful steward of my gift for God’s glory. Regardless of your gifting and occupation it can be discouraging when you lose sight of why you do what you do. Master of One serves as a great reminder and encouragement that we are here to bring God glory in whatever we do.
Although Master of One is what I’d consider to be a business type book, I couldn’t put it down. If you are looking to become better at whatever it is that God has created you to do, you must read this book. Master of One is equal parts helpful and delightful and I am pleased to give it my highest recommendation.
I received Master of One compliments of Waterbrook Multnomah in exchange for my honest review.
