Finding Mastery

One of my favorite and most gifted books is Mastery, by Robert Greene. I read this book during a pivotal time in my life when I was searching for a deeper meaning in what I was doing. I remember being engulfed in the book, never wanting to put it down, underlining and writing in the margins trying to retain as much of the information as possible. I think everyone interprets what they read or learn differently, which is why I don’t lend my books to anyone. I don’t want my notes and interpretation to change the perspective of whoever reads it. This is a general overview of how I see myself navigating my way down the path of mastery.

I believe that there are some basics that one needs to know about their craft in order to have a solid foundation. In doing so, you must be able to break things apart and put them back together to fully grasp what it is you are dealing with. Once you have the basics, you begin to learn by doing – discovering new applications, experimenting and failing with different ideas that are derived from those basic building blocks. By cycling through breaking things apart, putting them back together, and experimenting, you then are able to apply this new knowledge and gain a different perspective and insight. I think this is what Mastery is about. Discovering new ways to view the world and apply your knowledge in ways never thought of.

Learn the basics – understanding the fundamental building blocks. Learn by doing – experiment, fail, discover. Gain perspective – apply your knowledge in ways that have never been done before. Sometimes all you need is to see the world just a little bit differently, just by 2 degrees.

To quote Albert Szent-Gyorgi, “Discovery is seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.”