Mastery

I think anyone who wants to fully invest in learning new skills should read this book, or at least the chapters that interest them the most.

I discovered this book through a friend, @khalilStemmler, so I decided to read it, and I am absolutely not disappointed.

The book explores very well some very interesting concepts, even if most of them are not applicable, it is still a good book.

Summary and Highlights

Master something starts with learning something not in straight line but in stage:

• Brief spurts of progress
• Facing periods during which you seemed to be getting nowhere
• You learn about learning, you rediscover yourself
• Finally, you made easy a difficult task through instruction and practice

What is mastery?

Mastery starts with a Quantum moment.

The Quantum Moment is that moment of choice, which comes up countless times in each of our lives, about everything that has to do with learning, development or change. Simply put, it's a big moment of mindset shifting and eureka moment.

Mastery starts with a careful deliberation, but frequently the choice is careless — a barely conscious one.

Often we are seduced by the siren song of our consumerist, quick-fix society, we sometimes choose a course of action that brings only the illusion of accomplishment, the shadow of satisfaction.

Still, each of us comes equipped with enough raw ability across the board to achieve that seemingly rare and mysterious state we call mastery in some mode of thought and expression, some interpersonal and entrepreneurial enterprise, some art of craft.

How do you best move toward mastery?

To put it simply, you practice diligently, but you practice primarily for the sake of the practice itself. Rather than being frustrated while on the plateau, you learn to appreciate and enjoy it just as much as you do the upward surges.

Meet the Dabbler, The Obsessive, and the Hacker ⚡️

The Dabber

The Dabber approaches each new sport, career opportunity, or relationship with enormous enthusiasm. He/she likes the rituals of getting started, the spiffy equipment, the lingo, the shine of newness.

The Dabbler loves new jobs, new offices, new colleagues. He sees opportunities at every turn. Uh oh, there’s that plateau again. Maybe this job isn’t right for him after all. It’s time to start looking around. The Dabbler has a long resume.

In love relationships, the Dabbler specializes in honeymoons. He revels in seduction and surrender, the telling of life stories, the display of love’s tricks and trappings: The ego of parade.

When the initial ardor starts to cool, he starts looking around. To stay on the path of mastery would mean changing himself.

The Dabbler might think of himself as an adventurer, a connoisseur of novelty, but he’s probably closer to being what Carl Jung calls the puer aeternus, the eternal kid. Through partner change, he or she stays the same.

The Obsessive

The Obsessive is a bottom-line type of person, not one to settle for second best. He or she knows results are what count, and it doesn’t matter how you get them, just so you get them fast.

In fact, he wants to get the stroke just right during the very first lesson. He stays after class talking to the instructor. He asks what books and tapes he can buy to help him accelerate progress. (I think I'm this kind of person).

The Hacker

The hacker has a different attitude. After sort of getting the hang of a thing, he or she is willing to stay on the plateau indefinitely. He doesn’t mind skipping stages essential to the development of mastery if he can just go out and hack around with fellow hackers.

At work, he does only enough to get by, leaves on time or early, takes every break, talks instead of doing his job, and wonders why he doesn’t get promoted.

The categories are obviously not quite this neat. You can be a dabbler in love and a master in art. You can be on the path of mastery at your job and a Hacker on the golf course.

These characters, then, have proven useful in helping us see why we’re not on the path of mastery. But the first challenge we will meet when we take the path of mastery is posed by our society.