Are you a master of anything? Are there any shortcuts to a life of fulfillment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Leonard’s Mastery: The Keys to Success<\/a> and Long-Term Fulfillment<\/em> is about the life lived in disciplined dedication to one\u2019s skill, craft, or art. In Leonard\u2019s view, mastery isn’t an end goal. Instead, it’s a path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continue reading for an overview of a book that could put your life on a new and exciting course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n George Leonard’s Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment<\/a><\/em> contends that mastery is a lifelong journey of continuous learning<\/a>, discovery, and development of a skill, such as martial arts, painting, teaching, running, chess, or anything else. Further, Leonard\u2014a writer and an educator\u2014argues that the master\u2019s path is the only surefire way to live a fulfilling life<\/a>. Modern culture teaches us to want the quick, easy, and effortless way to success and happiness<\/a> but never really gets us there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonard wrote Mastery<\/em>, originally published in 1991, to share the expertise he gained from years as a student and teacher of two disciplines: flying jets and practicing aikido, a Japanese martial art known for its subtle complexities. We\u2019ll detail his perspective on the path of mastery<\/a>, from his basic definitions of four lifestyles\u2014the master, the dabbler, the obsessive, and the hacker\u2014to his discussion of how to get on the master\u2019s path, overcome its obstacles, and reject the shallower way of life that the modern world pushes us toward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To begin, we\u2019ll explain Leonard\u2019s definition of \u201cmastery.\u201d Put simply, mastery is the continual, focused pursuit of developing a skill<\/a>.<\/strong> In this sense, it\u2019s the way of life lived by those who choose to walk the path of the master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That concept\u2014that mastery is a path<\/em>, rather than a goal\u2014is the core of Leonard\u2019s perspective. To live his notion of mastery is to immerse yourself in the lifelong process<\/em> of discovering, refining, and constantly learning more about the skill you choose to pursue. Thus, Leonard says, mastery is an endless journey along which you commit to deep, dedicated learning of the myriad minutiae of your chosen skill. It takes patience and focus to steadily grind away at the fundamentals, to build a solid base of basic skills, and to choose to keep going. All along the way, remember that the end goal<\/em> isn\u2019t the point\u2014rather, the path itself<\/em> is the point.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If mastery is a path, then the main features of that path<\/strong>, according to Leonard, are its recurrent plateaus or flat zones<\/strong>. Put another way, he contends that, when you develop a new skill, your growth looks not like a continual upward trend but rather like a series of long, flat periods of hard work with few visible results. Every once in a while, these flat zones give way to spurts of growth\u2014intermittent moments when everything you\u2019ve been training for comes together, and you finally achieve competence in the technique or move you\u2019ve been learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These plateaus are the main reason many people fall off the path of mastery. Leonard says that most, if not all of us, want to be good at something. However, we feel daunted by how long it takes to achieve real skillfulness. When we hear that it may be years before we can properly pitch a ball or perform on the piano, we lose all motivation. We don\u2019t want to struggle through the long days of grinding away at mundane, minute techniques with little to show for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Falling off of the plateau, Leonard says, is a tragedy, because we\u2019re all born with the potential to be masters. Human beings are learning animals: We\u2019re wired to develop skills that we aren\u2019t born with, a capacity that no other animal has.<\/strong> We can learn to write grand symphonies, hike the highest mountains, create wonderful meals, or run faster than anyone ever has. We\u2019re all born with the potential to master some skill, be it music, athletics, relationships, or business. Wasting that potential is a terrible loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To avoid that mistake, embrace the plateaus you\u2019ll encounter along your path<\/a> of mastery<\/strong>. Since most of the path consists of these flat periods, we need to sink deep into them\u2014deep into the steady, diligent practice of fundamentals, repeating the technique dozens or hundreds of times. In other words, Leonard says, we must learn to love<\/a> practice for its own sake\u2014to recognize that learning happens all along the way, even if the motivating results only appear to happen every once in a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Put another way, Leonard argues that to become a master<\/a> is to learn to do something simply because you love it rather than for any external rewards or motivations. When you have that desire to do something out of a simple, quiet joy for the activity itself, you know you\u2019re on the path of mastery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we\u2019re all born with the capacity to be masters, why are the plateaus such a challenge? Leonard says that most of us fall off during plateaus because they reveal our real motivations: that we just want to look good, impress our friends, or have some fun<\/strong>. For Leonard, most of us aren\u2019t serious enough to pursue real mastery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Leonard, this is because modern culture conditions us to want instant gratification<\/a> above all else. Advertising, television, and other sources of easy dopamine have taught us that the exciting, fast, and easy solutions are the best way to solve problems. This attitude has leached into all areas of our lives, and many people have lost the willpower to do anything that requires real, hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, Leonard says, this lifestyle leads nowhere good. When the pace of life is characterized by one high point after another, the end result is a dramatic fall<\/strong>. It\u2019s impossible to keep the climaxes coming forever. Like a drug addiction, each successive hit feels worse than the previous, and you\u2019ll eventually be fragile, impatient, irritable, and unable to focus\u2014unable to live with presence, patience, and diligence, as a master does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having detailed Leonard\u2019s definition of mastery<\/a> and its main characteristics, we\u2019ll next look at three other learning styles<\/a> that he contrasts with the master, whose learning style is that of the patient, diligent, path-embracing person described in the previous sections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The following three learning styles characterize people who aspire to mastery yet ultimately fall off the path. According to Leonard, people split into these categories into even thirds, give or take a little. He recommends that you try to spot which one you might be so that you recognize how you might be avoiding or neglecting your potential to become a master. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first learning style Leonard describes is the dabbler\u2014someone who\u2019s always in pursuit of novelty<\/strong>. He\u2019s always excited to try some new skill, and he works at it for a time with great enthusiasm, often overcoming the first plateau to achieve a spurt of progress. However, as soon as things get hard, he becomes baffled and dismayed. His enthusiasm wanes, and he starts finding reasons that this skill just isn\u2019t really for him. Ultimately, the dabbler cares more about novelty and about feeling good than about developing a skill in any committed way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, Leonard describes the obsessive\u2014someone who focuses on results at the expense of all else<\/strong>. He doesn\u2019t care how he gets there; just that he does. He\u2019ll take shortcuts, work obsessively hard, and push himself unreasonably far. He\u2019ll try to perfect his technique in the first lesson, the first hour. He makes progress, but inevitably he burns out, falls off, and never returns to that pursuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final learning style Leonard describes is the hacker\u2014someone who isn\u2019t concerned with serious learning<\/strong>. Rather, he\u2019s content to know just enough to enjoy himself\u2014just a few chords on the guitar, just a handful of decent dinner recipes. He\u2019s content to be just OK at the skill, to stay on the plateau forever, and never overcome any real obstacles to growth and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having explained the nature of mastery as well as the three more common learning styles that impede it, we\u2019ll next discuss five core lessons that, according to Leonard, will get you on the master\u2019s path. Namely, we\u2019ll detail how to find a great teacher, how to practice<\/a>, how to let go of results and get on with the process, how to visualize your growth, and how to push beyond your edges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonard says that while it\u2019s possible to learn skills on your own, the best learning happens under the guidance of a skilled instructor<\/strong>. This is because teachers can tailor their instruction to your specific needs as a learner. Your teacher can give you precise, specific feedback, demonstrate the forms and techniques of your skill, offer encouragement, and mentor you through your unique challenges. In contrast, you\u2019ll spend a lot of time trudging through territory that\u2019s already been mapped if you try to learn on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To find a great teacher, pay attention to the following factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Leonard recommends that you be ready to break it off if, even after you\u2019ve chosen a good teacher, the student-teacher relationship doesn\u2019t work out<\/strong>. Teachers, like anyone, are only human. If you feel uncomfortable or like you just aren\u2019t learning effectively, know that it\u2019s alright to say goodbye and look for someone else to guide you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, the way of the master is practice. Leonard explains that we should understand this word in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n That latter sense is more important, for a master is most interested in practice as an end in itself. <\/strong>In other words, the practice itself is the point and path, and masters live primarily for their practices. Results are secondary to everyday immersion in the essential, ongoing practice of your skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, practice will probably seem tiresome. However, Leonard contends that over time, it transforms into something deeply alive\u2014a time and space into which the master fully immerses himself in the exploration of the nuances and subtleties of his craft. For instance, you could spend a lifetime exploring the endless scales, chords, intervals, and other musical patterns on the fretboard of a guitar. Even one chord, containing three or four notes, could be \u201cvoiced\u201d or played in various ways, placed in myriad positions across the fretboard, and combined with hundreds of other such chords to create thousands of variations, thousands of sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the basic moves, which the master returns to time and again, to the advanced techniques, this way of approaching practice allows for lifelong cultivation and refinement of your skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The master\u2019s path is thus to continually learn and to do this requires surrender<\/strong>, according to Leonard. Surrender means letting go of your ego<\/a> or any pretense to skill that you carry. If you clutch onto some idea that you\u2019re already good enough or you always know what\u2019s best, you\u2019ll be too preoccupied with protecting your sense of self to truly learn anything. Leonard explains two ways in which you must surrender:<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, you must surrender to your teacher<\/strong>: Having already made sure you have a good teacher, trust what they have you do\u2014no matter how ridiculous it seems. Right now, they\u2019re the master, and you have to trust that they know what\u2019s best for the beginner (you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second, Leonard says, you must surrender to your ignorance<\/strong>: To learn requires that you be willing to look foolish. At first, you\u2019ll be bad at whatever new skill you try to learn. However, floundering and flailing is precisely the mistake-driven learning process that takes us forward. If you\u2019re unwilling to look foolish, though, you won\u2019t make progress because you\u2019ll be afraid to make mistakes or look like you\u2019re bad at something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Leonard, the true master is an eternal beginner<\/strong>, always willing to play the fool. This is because with any sufficiently complex skill, there\u2019s always more to learn\u2014for each step you take, there are always two more that arise on the road ahead. Thus the master walks her path not to reach results, but to sink ever deeper into the mysteries and challenges of her chosen skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Leonard, the best learners use visualization, or mental rehearsal<\/a>, to cultivate their skills. <\/strong>Leonard argues that this technique is the one key that high-performing athletes, businesspeople, and artists use to perform at higher and higher levels of skill. Mental rehearsal simply means creating in your mind a clear, vivid image or scene of a move or technique that you\u2019re learning. For instance, you might visualize yourself performing a difficult passage on the piano or executing a perfect kickflip on the skateboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visualizing in this way allows you to create a precise, focused template that your body will then follow when you go to perform the move in real life. According to Leonard, visualization trains your mind to start forming the circuits you need to execute that move as if by habit.<\/strong> The more you rehearse it\u2014and the more vividly you do so\u2014the stronger these \u201cpreconditioned\u201d habits become. Ultimately, this is the master\u2019s best technique for isolating and refining specific moves and techniques, and it accelerates the learning process beyond what practice alone can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lastly, Leonard writes that masters tend to be people who push to the edge of what\u2019s possible in their chosen fields. <\/strong>While masters also deeply love the basics and will practice them for many hours, they also feel drawn to explore the outer limits of what they can do. For instance, a master snowboarder will have spent countless hours refining his basic balance, jumping, and landing techniques\u2014all of which enable him to try to pull off tricks like the quadruple backside cork 1980<\/a>, one of the hardest snowboarding stunts ever performed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While this only comes after many years of training, Leonard says that it\u2019s the ultimate affirmation of life\u2014an exhilarating move to express your skillfulness in its fullest strength and to discover what you\u2019re capable of by pushing beyond anything you\u2019ve achieved before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ll detail Leonard\u2019s final words of advice regarding four challenges that you\u2019ll face along the path of mastery. Namely, we\u2019ll discuss his advice on overcoming resistance to change<\/a>, building your energy, avoiding common pitfalls, and mastering the mundane aspects of everyday life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Leonard, it\u2019s important to achieve lasting change<\/a> in your lifestyle when you seek mastery.<\/strong> After all, to walk the master\u2019s path is no small commitment and will require you to prioritize your chosen skill over many other things. But, lasting change doesn\u2019t come easy. We all hesitate, stumble, and often fall when trying to change our habits, behaviors, or ways of living. We all slide backward as we try to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This happens because, Leonard explains, the human body and mind strive to maintain homeostasis\u2014your natural balance of energy and effort\u2014every day<\/strong>. When you try to change, your body and mind sense that something different is happening, and they generate resistance to get you to settle back into your normal patterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, you may have tried to build a habit of getting to the gym or waking up early (or both), and soon after slipped back into an old pattern of sleeping in or finding excuses not to do as you\u2019d planned. That\u2019s just your natural physiological systems demanding that you make no significant changes to the established balances\u2014not a lack of willpower or moral fortitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Leonard, change, then, requires that you overcome the inertia of homeostasis<\/strong> and leverage your willpower to shift your body and mind into a new balance. He explains that this balance comes only when you can stick to a habit<\/a> long enough that your body and mind adapt to the new efforts or exertions, while also acknowledging that resistance and not pushing so hard that you hurt yourself. In other words, Leonard says, you need to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonard adds that it\u2019s important to be consistent in your practice and remain committed to the change you want to make<\/strong>. By doing so, you\u2019ll eventually change your natural balance; you\u2019ll teach your body and mind to incorporate the new daily effort you\u2019re making\u2014whether it\u2019s a morning run, a daily yoga session, or a commitment to cook healthy dinners each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t have the energy to change, you won\u2019t be able to stick to the path long enough to build a steady, committed practice. For this reason, Leonard explains that any aspiring master must learn to release the huge, untapped stores of energy that we all have within.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout life, Leonard argues, we\u2019re conditioned by social expectations and mores to repress large parts of our personalities, and this effectively shuts off our expansive, energetic nature. We learn to quiet down, fit in, and not rock the boat. Unfortunately, this also tends to make us lethargic and depressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Leonard offers four ways to reclaim your lost energy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exercise regularly. <\/strong>We gain energy not by resting and storing it up, but by using it. Movement, exertion, and exercise use energy up front but make you more energetic over the long run\u2014so be sure to exercise regularly, even if it\u2019s just to go for a walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Emphasize the positives. <\/strong>Positive thinking, Leonard asserts, produces healthier, happier, and more energetic people. This doesn\u2019t mean you should deny the negatives. Instead, acknowledge them first so that you\u2019re at peace with them, and then refocus on what\u2019s positive, uplifting, and energizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Embrace your shadow. <\/strong>Though we\u2019ve all repressed large parts of our personalities, Leonard says that we can honor them in order to release large amounts of energy from within. For instance, you might redirect repressed anger or sadness into fuel for art, exercise, or work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Get clear, get committed. <\/strong>You can\u2019t do everything, but Leonard warns against letting decision paralysis<\/a> prevent you from doing anything. Pick one thing you feel strongly drawn to and commit to it, letting the rest go. This, Leonard says, will clarify your intent and unleash energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOverview of George Leonard’s Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mastery Is a Path, Not a Destination<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Embrace the Plateaus, Reject Easy Shortcuts<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Plateau Is the Path<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Instant Gratification Distracts From Mastery<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Three Learning Styles That Prevent Mastery <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Dabbler<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Obsessive<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
The Hacker<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Mastery\u2019s Five Core Lessons<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get Instruction <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Embrace Practice<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Submit to the Process<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Visualize Your Growth<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Push to the Edge<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The Master\u2019s Toolkit<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Change for Good<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Overcome Inertia<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Generate Boundless Energy<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Overcome Hindrances<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n