Mastery
by Robert Greene – A Summary (Part I)
I have reviewed this
book before but after the second reading, I realised that the concepts within its
pages are intense and the ideas too many that having a summary would definitely
help me.
Disclaimer: This summary is my interpretation of the book to suit my pursuits,
dreams and goals.
“Why do we need mastery? Why work years when you can achieve
so much power with so little effort? Technology will solve everything.” Do not
have this passivity. Do not believe the moral stance that says, ‘mastery and
power are evil’. You will unconsciously lower your sights as to what you can
accomplish in life. This can diminish your levels of effort and discipline
below the point of effectiveness. Do not listen more to others than to your own
voice. Do not choose a career based on what peers and parents tell you or on
what seems lucrative. Lack of true desire will catch up with you and your work
will become mechanical. So,
a)
See your attempt at attaining mastery as
something extremely necessary and positive. The passive ironic attitude is not
cool or romantic, but pathetic and destructive.
b)
People get the mind and quality of brain that
they deserve through their actions in life. Work to see how far you can extend
control of your circumstances and create the kind of mind you desire.
As you progress, old ideas and perspectives die off; as new
powers are unleashed, you are initiated into higher levels of seeing the world.
Anything that is alive is in a continual state of change and movement. The moment
that you rest, thinking that you have attained the level you desire, a part of
your mind enters a phase of decay.
“The geniuses all possessed that seriousness of the
efficient workman who first learns to construct the parts properly before he ventures
to fashion a great whole; they allowed themselves time for it, because they
took more pleasure in making the little, secondary things well than in the
effect of a dazzling whole.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.
Section I Discover your calling: The Life’s Task
“Just as a well-filled day brings blessed sleep, so a
well-employed life brings a blessed death.” – Leonardo da Vinci.
The way to mastery can begin at any point in life. The process
of realizing your Life’s Task comes in 3 stages:
1)
You must connect
or reconnect with your inclinations - that sense of uniqueness. This step
is inward. Clear away confusing voices (parents and peers) and look for an
underlying pattern, a core to your character that you must understand as deeply
as possible.
2)
Look at the career path you already on or are
about to begin. The choice of this path
– or redirection of it – is critical. Talking about work-life balance seems
illogical as work forms a large part of life. To see work as a means to earn
money to seek pleasure in the hours after work is a sad way of experiencing
life. Work should be inspiring and engaging. (I have some reservations with
this view of Greene. Isn’t it said that an artist works better on a filled
stomach? Also, this may be more applicable when you start out in life as a
15-18 year old not as a married with kids 30+ year old. I’m not going into the
arguments as this is just a summary and not an analysis.)
3)
Finally, you must see your career more as a journey with twists and turns rather
than a straight line.
Ø
Begin by choosing a field or position that
roughly corresponds to your inclinations. Don’t start with something too lofty
or too ambitious.
Ø
Make a living and establish some confidence. Discover
side routes that attract you and discard ones that leave you cold. Keep expanding
your skill base.
Ø
Eventually, you will hit upon a particular field,
niche, or opportunity that suits you perfectly. You will recognise it when you
find it because it will spark that childlike sense of wonder and excitement; it
will feel right.
Ø
Once found, everything will fall in place. You will
learn more quickly and more deeply. Your skill level will reach a point where
you will be able to claim your independence from within the group you work for
and move out on your own.
Ø
You will no longer be subject to the whims of tyrannical
bosses or scheming peers.
What we lack most in the modern world is a sense of a larger
purpose to our lives. “Become who you are by learning who you are” – Pindar.
Strategies for finding your Life’s Task
“Whoever is born with a talent, or to a talent, must surely
find in that the most pleasing of occupations!” Wolfgang Goethe
1)
Return to your origins – The primal inclination
strategy
In order to master a field, you must love the subject and feel a profound
connection to it. Your interest must transcend the field itself and border on
the religious.
2)
Occupy the perfect niche – The Darwinian
strategy
Choose a niche that corresponds to your deepest inclinations – one that
you can dominate. It is not a simple process to find such a niche. It requires
patience and a particular strategy:
Ø
Choose a field that corresponds to your
interests.
Ø
From there, you can look for side paths that
attract you and move into a narrower field. You keep doing this till you hit an
unoccupied niche.
Ø
Or, you master one field, then another and
create a new field combining both or you make novel connections between them.
3)
Avoid the false path- The rebellion strategy
Do not choose a path for money, fame, attention, etc. Don’t act out
anxieties and the need to please parents. Scoff at the need for attention and
approval – they will lead you astray. Let your sense of rebellion fill you with
energy and purpose.
4)
Let go of the past – The adaptation strategy
If change is forced on you, do not overreact or feel sorry for yourself. Don’t
abandon the skills and experience gained but find a new way to apply them. These
creative readjustments might lead to a superior path.
5)
Find your way back – The life-or-death strategy
No
good can ever come from deviating from the path you are destinied to follow. Don’t
deviate on the lure of money. It will take you further away from the path. Keep
your focus on 5-10 years down the road, when you will reap the rewards of your
efforts. The process of getting there is full of challenges and pleasures.
Reversal
Ignore weaknesses and resist the temptation to be more like
others. Direct yourself towards the simple things you are good at rather than
making grand plans for the future. Concentrate on becoming proficient in these skills
and develop confidence. Learn the value of discipline and reap the rewards.
“Sooner or later something seems to call us onto a particular
path. You may remember this “something” as a signal calling in childhood when
an urge out of nowhere, a fascination, a peculiar turn of events struck like an
anunciation: This is what I must do, this is what I’ve got to have. This is who
I am… if not this vivid or sure, the call may have been more like gentle
pushings in the stream in which you drifted unknowingly to a particular spot on
the bank. Looking back, you sense that fate had a hand in it… A calling may be
postponed, avoided, intermittently missed, it may also possess you completely. Whatever;
eventually it will out. It makes its claim… extraordinary people display
calling most evidently. Perhaps that’s why they fascinate. Perhaps, too, they
are extraordinary because their calling comes through so clearly and they are
so loyal to it… extraordinary people bear the better witness because they show
what ordinary mortals simply can’t. We seem to have less motivation and more
distraction. Yet our destiny is driven by the same universal engine. Extraordinary
people are not a different category; the workings of this engine in them are
simply more transparent…”
-
James Hillman
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