Mastery
In a sentence
The theatre!
In a paragraph
Introduction
Thinking inside:
- Observe masters carefully, imagining yourself in their body performing the craft.
- During apprenticeship, try make decisions as the 'master', not yourself.
- Make things with skill: 'eternity loves the productions of time'.
Darwin had to develop highly refined political and social skills to handle the prejudice against his theories
The less we attempt, the less chance of failure. If we limit our circle of action, we give ourselves the illusion of control
Mastery is not for the domination of nature or others, but for determining our own fate as individuals and as a planet.
I. Discover your life's calling: Your life's task
The first move toward mastery is always inward-learning who you really are and reconnecting with that innate force.
Strategies
The six strategies for finding your life's task include:
1. Returning to your origins – The primal inclination strategy
What you are primitively drawn to is already in your core. You need to dig and rediscover it. Look for its traces in visceral reactions to simple things; activities you never tire of; subjects that spark curiosity; actions that empower you; inclinations from childhood. It is not verbal or conscious, but you can reconnect to it at any age.
2. Occupy the perfect niche – The Darwinian strategy
Create a field that is uniquely your own. Don't compete for space and scarce resources in crowded seas. Blue ocean strategy. There are two ways to do this: A) Start in any broad field and continue pursuing and branching your interests within it until you hit an unoccupied niche; B) Master one field, then switch to a second. Your niche is at the cross-roads.
3. Avoid the false path – The rebellion strategy
A false path is something we are attracted to for the wrong reasons – money, fame, attention. You will never find fulfilment nor do great work here. Rebel against the forces that lead down this path, and let that fill you with energy and purpose.
4. Let go of the past – The adaptation strategy
You are never tied to a career or company. You are tied to your Life's Task only – a living and evolving organism. Adapt with it and never overreact or feel hard done by the work this involves. Change is coming. Adapt and creatively recalibrate with your eyes on the future.
5. Find your way back – The life-or-death strategy
Failure, pain, frustration, embarrassment, poverty may come. Religion, drugs, and other diversions may try fill the hole. You must let these challenges guide your return to the long, patient, and resolute road to Mastery and fulfilling your Life's Task.
6. Reversal
If faced with deficiencies instead of strengths and inclinations, resist the temptation to be more like others. Put grand future plans on hold and concentrate on improving the small things you are good at and can do now.
Quotes
If Leonardo da Vinci had devoted himself mostly to painting, or tried to finish his work quickly, in order to make a good living he would have done well. But he would not have been Leonardo da Vinci.
Equality is not when everyone is the same. It's when everyone has an equal chance to express their differences.
Don't abandon the skills and experience you have gained, but find new ways to apply them.
II. Submit to reality: The ideal apprenticeship
After your formal education, you enter the most critical phase of your life–a second, practical education known as The Apprenticeship.
Keys
The three steps of the Apprenticeship Phase
ONE: Deep observation – The passive mode TWO: Skills acquisition – The practice mode THREE: Experimentation – The active mode
Strategies
1. Value learning over money 2. Keep expanding your horizons 3. Revert to a feeling of inferiority 4. Trust the process 5. Move toward resistance and pain 6. Apprentice yourself in failure 7. Combine the "how" with the "what" 8. Advance through trial and error
9. Reversal – can you bypass the apprenticeship?
No.