You mentioned a sort of hump where someone realizes they have a long way to go. Some other thinkers have described "the path to mastery" with four levels.

• novice: unaware of his incompetence
• apprentice: aware of her incompetence
• journeyman: aware of his competence
• master: unaware of her competence

The first rite of passage you're referring is the novice-apprentice transition. Instead of playing around on your own tasks, you decide to really use someone else's methods, and are coming to grips with your need to apply some discipline.

Another "enlightenment" is when you develop a sense of confidence, realizing you're pretty good at what you set out to do. You still learn and you still want to learn, but you're adept at taking new knowledge and filing it in your own way.

The final stage, mastery, is just another stage, not better or worse than the others, but has its own characteristics. If most of what you learn is from how others approach their problems, and not from how you approach your own projects, you may be a master. Competence becomes somewhat irrelevant, it's not the results that really matter, but instead, the opportunities in the path taken.

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