Mastery by George Leonard

The Book in One Paragraph

The hollowness and boredom many people experience in their lives are not due to a lack of exciting things to do. They’re because people don’t pursue the journey of mastery. This journey fills our lives with purpose, intrinsically motivates us, and makes us feel satisfied regardless of tangible outcomes. Mastery stems from having the mindset of a lifelong learner. It’s a trait that doesn’t depend on genetics; it can be developed at any age.

Mastery Book Summary

This is my book summary of Mastery by George Leonard. It’s a collection of quotes from the book and my own thoughts. This summary includes key lessons and takeaways from the book.

Mastery is the mysterious process through which what is at first difficult becomes progressively easier and more pleasurable through practice.

Plateaus often take formidable proportions while learning. But if you can persevere, you win. With time, you start enjoying plateaus. Each time you experience one, you think, “Oh boy, another plateau! Good! I can just stay on it and keep practicing. Sooner or later, there will be another spurt.”

Months of no breaks in the steady rhythm of practice can become revelations because the endless succession of “nothing special” classes or sessions turns rewarding in the long term.

It’s important to overcome the lethargy that stops you from beginning a practice session. When the author was learning aikido, he would feel lazy to go to practice. But no matter how he felt while climbing the dojo stairs, two hours later — after hundreds of throws and falls — he would walk out tingling and fully alive. He felt so good that the night seemed like it sparkled and gleamed.

Fame is like seawater for the thirsty; it’s never enough. The love for your work, the willingness to stay with it even in the absence of extrinsic reward, is good food and drink.

Goals and contingencies exist in the future. Only practice exists in the present. To love the plateau is to love the eternal now, to enjoy the inevitable spurts of progress, and to serenely accept the new plateaus that await beyond. It’s what is most essential in life.

Man has been defined as a building animal, a working animal, or a fighting animal. But all these definitions are incomplete or false, Man is a learning animal, and the essence of the species is encoded in that simple term.

It’s sad that in the past 100 years, almost every aspect — industry, communications, transport, computation, and entertainment — has changed beyond recognition. But our schools remain essentially the same.

The teacher who can make the current system work, who has discovered how to involve each student actively in the learning process, is undoubtedly a master… not necessarily the one who gives the most polished lectures.

“The master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer every day than anybody else.” — Old martial arts proverb.

Boredom is found in the obsessive search for novelty. It’s a result of always pursuing the novel or the next shiny object, or repeating the same thing mindlessly.

Satisfaction lies in mindful repetition and the discovery of endless riches in subtle variations on familiar themes. Truly feeling alive is like a good long-term company stock: long plateaus followed by exceptional growth spurts.

The best you can hope for on the master’s journey is to cultivate the mind and heart of the beginner at every stage. There are no experts, only learners.

Intentionality fuels mastery. Every master is a master of vision.

The journey of mastery is goalless; it never ends. As the old martial arts saying goes, “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” The new black belt is expected to be the first on the mat the following day, ready to take the fall.

Homeostasis is the process of reverting to normal. It’s good for the body, but it’s the enemy of the mind when it comes to mastery. It doesn’t distinguish between change for the better or worse; it resists all change.

If alarm bells go off in your brain when you try something new, it doesn’t mean you’re sick or you’ve made a bad decision. In fact, it means your life is changing, often for the better.

When you want to change your path, resistance also comes from friends, family, and coworkers. An entire system has to change when a part of it changes. So don’t be surprised. It’s not that others mean you harm; it’s just homeostasis at work.

Have the willingness to take one step back for every two steps forward, and vice versa. Keep pushing, but not without awareness.

A human being is the kind of machine that wears out from “lack of use.” For the most part, we gain energy by using energy.

“Never marry a person who is not a friend of your excitement,” Nathaniel Brandon said. Your partner doesn’t have to share your interest, but she or he should encourage your excitement.

The person who can vacuum an entire house without losing his/her composure, staying balanced, centered, and focused in the process rather than impatiently waiting for completion, is a person who knows about mastery.

We never know far the path can go or how much we can achieve until we realize that the ultimate reward is not a gold medal, but the path itself.