Mastery

I was tempted to give this a 4 (which I did in my first draft) but after looking back at how much value I got from it I felt like I was doing it a disservice.

Several historical figures become the go-to when it comes to understanding what a path to mastery looks like. Some of the anecdotes reported in the book were too similar to others (e.g. The Talent Code) and at times even repeated across the book. I skimmed or skipped some of those stories but continued reading if I was interested in the person brought up (e.g. Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Leonardo Da Vinci).

If you're interested in becoming a master of something the journey starts with introspection. Greene suggests detaching oneself from conformity, understanding who you are, learning about your tendencies, and paying attention to the voice and force within you. This gets almost philosophical but I find it to be true. Surrounded by distractions we rarely stop to think deeply not only about something we want to learn but about ourselves.

Apprenticeship

Greene puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of apprenticeship. Past the introspection phase, the only "shortcut" to mastery is to maximize the opportunities to get you where you want to be. Find a job or a mentor that is close to who you want to be and what you want to learn. Don't sit comfortably but get out of your comfort zone and seek challenges that will teach you as much as possible. Everyone has that knee-jerk reflex when presented with a comfortable and uncomfortable situation, if you always stay within the limits of what you know you are robbing yourself of the opportunity to grow. I made it a mission to say yes to the most uncomfortable tasks that I know will be a learning lesson, if it's something that will get me closer to the level of mastery I am looking for I just have to go through the pains and feeling of incompetence because there is no way around it.

I like the distinction made between two types of failure:

1. Never trying your ideas out of fear or because you are waiting for the perfect time. This type of hesitation works against your growth.
2. Being bold and failing because of it, in this scenario you sacrifice reputation for a learning opportunity. The growth you get outweighs the reputation hit.

I believe the search for a mentor is not as "simple" as Greene makes it out to be. Based on my experience it's not easy to make all the right decisions to get you closer to where you want to be. This can greatly affect the journey to mastery. Finding a mentor is hard and at times you might not find what you're looking for. Several recommendations can guide you in your search but be ready to possibly search for a while.

I found the second-degree mentor a more realistic approach, one that I somewhat followed early in my career.

Common themes

Self-discipline and dedication are fundamental to reaching a level of mastery. This becomes easier to sustain for people who maintain their childhood spirit. A playful excitement about their field inevitably helps make hours of work alive and pleasurable. This type of drive and excitement can help with the emotional commitment to growth which in turn will be translated directly into your work.

You need to cultivate your power of association. Some of the most inspiring projects and ideas in history did not come from a recluded obsession with something but rather by cultivating a certain openness and exploratory mindset (don't take my word for it, go read the book!). This can be facilitated in many ways:

• Widening your search as far as possible expanding into other fields
• Examining as many examples and counterexamples as possible
• Alternating moments of tension to moments of release by engaging in activities outside your work (e.g. taking a walk)
• Piercing deeper by alternating between speculation and observation/experiment

Nourish your creativity by looking at what is hidden in plain sight. Greene believes your mind can be trained to do this, to become aware of the patterns your mind falls into and break free of them. Some of his suggestions include:

• Looking at the "how" instead of the "what". Pay greater attention to the relationship between things.
• Paying attention to details without rushing to generalities
• Paying attention to anomalies without always confirming paradigms
• Focusing on what is absent rather than fixating on what is present
• Be bold and rebellious not accepting the status quo or conventional wisdom

What stays with me the most

A few highlights that either resonated with me or will stay with me for a long time:

• "Engaging in the creative process we feel more alive than ever, because we are making something and not merely consuming". This hit home hard and was something I talked to my wife about. I was looking back at what I accomplished in a previous year and realized that I spent more time consuming content rather than creating. I vowed to change that.
• "The feeling that we have endless time to complete our work has an insidious and debilitating effect on our minds". Another rough reality check, so many unfinished projects that went on and on because I had unlimited time. This translated into the frustration of never having the feeling of creating anything since I never reached a "done" state. My mantra moving forward is "done is better than perfect". Green doubles down on this also mentioning that it is the height of selfishness to merely consume what others create.
• "You begin by looking inwards. You have something you want to express that is unique to yourself and related to your inclinations".
• "The time that leads to mastery is dependent on the intensity of our focus.". You can read Deep Work and Ultralearning to understand how important this is.
• "There are many paths to mastery, and if you are persistent you will certainly find one that suits you. But a key component in the process is determining your mental and psychological strengths and working with them.". We need to find a path that works for us and keeps us excited. It is unrealistic to expect to figure this out on our first trial. We should make a first attempt to look at our emotional and mental state, being as realistic as possible. When things don't work out or keep us excited we have to dig deep and find out why, then go back to the drawing board and make changes.

Conclusion

I'm probably a broken record at this point but, like any other book of this genre, there are a lot of stories (often repeated) that make an interesting read quite tedious. I powered through some and skipped many because when the author was focused on pragmatic content I couldn't put the book down. Like the "Talent Code" it demystifies the path to mastery highlighting that no matter what, it requires hard work that not many are willing to go through. I can't overstate how important the intensity of our focus is in our journey to mastery and how a good apprenticeship phase can make you feel like you're "cutting corners".

There's also a meta point about learning and mastery, there's not one recipe that works for everyone. Part of the journey is figuring out what works for us, critically looking at who we're doing and how we're feeling, and adjusting accordingly. All in all, it got me really excited and I will be further exploring different methods to read better, retain more, and create more.