You’ll never reach perfection, but you can strive for it every day. And that’s when you become a master.

Being a Master Technician sounds impressive, right? I say it with pride, knowing that I earnt that right after almost 35 years in the trade, working for some serious names. RAC, BMW, JLR, I couldn’t work for the AA as they didn’t have enough letters!

But what does that title mean exactly? Simple. It means you’ll get the job done right the first time, in a prompt and professional manner. It means no excuses. It means trust me; I know what I’m doing. For me it also means you know the history of the brand and an in depth knowledge of not just what you are doing, but how and why. You should know the temperature, angle, pressure or position of the system you are working on.

But it doesn’t mean I didn’t make mistakes along the way.

I remember changing the oil on a Renault 21 Monaco that I sold as a trainee at a small garage I worked at when I left college. I was proud of the fact that I prepped the car for sale upon its arrival and dealt with the customer who left the deposit on it. I thought I’d complete the sale by servicing it before it went out, thus proving to the whole team that I could do it all. Or so I thought.

I changed the air filter as the oil drained, I then checked the amount of oil needed to refill it and poured that amount in. When I checked the dipstick the oil didn’t register, so I added another litre, then another, then another. I got to 9 litres before I thought hold on, I’m missing something here? I looked under the car and saw very quickly what the problem was. The oil was going straight out the bottom into the drain bucket as I had forgotten to refit the sump plug!

Or how about the time I left a wheel loose as I answered my phone during a job? After the conversation I thought I had tightened the nuts up correctly, only to hear them rattle on the road test. Never answered the phone during a job after that. Or the fuel pump I condemned without checking the fuse that had failed? Always check the basics after that one! How about the Rover 620ti that drove through a flood and locked up? I called it as a starter motor fault before getting it back to base and watched water being fired out of the spark plug holes! That was the first time I had experienced hydraulic locking and it’s something that you just don’t forget.

Essentially what I’m saying is I’ve learnt from every job I’ve done. I’ve learnt how to do it quickly or efficiently as well as how not to do it.

And that’s my point. If you go through life doing the same thing, the same way, you will get the same results. If you reflect upon what you have just done and analyse it in a dispassionate way, you’ll be able to see what you done well and what you could do better next time.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a routine service, talking to customers or prepping a car for sale. If you look at what you do and how you done it, you’ll become better at it. I analyse every journey I make, every car I diagnose, every repair I carryout. I look at how I changed gear, when I changed them as well as how I took the last bend or indicated at the roundabout. I’ll think did I have to remove all the trims to get to the cam sensor, or could I just loosen something off to move it enough.

You’ll never reach perfection, but you can strive for it every day. And that’s when you become a Master.