“Mastery” Commentary & Summary

From Apprentice to Master

21 min readMay 13, 2020

Mastery covers a topic that is self-explanatory, yet needs to be reinforced. To gain mastery over anything from learning a language, new skill, or building proficiency in physical activity, requires many hours of continuous repetition. However apparent that may have been, the concept of mastery by Leanord is reconceptualized as a life long journey, not a destination that is to be reached. Rather, mastery itself is a continuous action. Mastery is practice. Mastery is learning to fall in love with the process and not being discouraged when plateaus form. To reach mastery you must learn to love the process and practice each day with immense commitment and consistency.

Summary

Mastery debunks the myth of talent and shows you there are proven steps you can take to achieve mastery in a discipline of your own choosing, by analyzing the paths of some history’s most famous masters, such as Einstein, Darwin, and Da Vinci [1].

Analysis

In the book, he outlines 3 types of people: The hacker, The obsessive, and The dabbler.

The Hacker is something I find myself gravitating towards the most often. This requires 80/20 analysis so that you can quickly become adept at the skills required to reach a top 10% threshold of output by focuses on the 20% of the items that non-proportionally create the greatest impact. The downside with the hacker mindset is after the top 20% of the most important skills are learned the learning stops almost altogether (and usually so does the practice needed to improve this skill over time). This is the closest thing to the path of mastery however, minus the time required to practice and to perfect.

The Obsessive is an individual who as you guessed it is obsessed almost immediately with learning a new skill. Soon they run into three first (or first few plateaus) and great it with even more intensity. The obsessive is more than willing to put in the work required to gain a new skill however they lack the consistency and patience needed to master the skill over time. Then as all things do, the obsessive loses steam and crashes hard towards its indefinite failure. This was me before migrating towards the Hacker mindset (which I think is great for “mastering” most skills you desire to be adept efficiently).

The Dabbler is the worst obstacle of them all. Interested at the possibility of becoming a master they embark on a journey to pursue a new skill. Just like any beginner would they are immediately greeted with the positive feedback they received as they learn the basics of skill with ease and timeliness. However, once they encounter their first obstacle (their plateau usually) their motivation quickly dissipates leaving them to ultimately quit their pursuit altogether.

The Path Towards Mastery. This is the individual who understands that to gain a level of mastery in any skill is a lifelong pursuit. Gaining the skill, the results, they are great rewards but the ultimate reward is the process itself. They love the process (the plateaus) so much that they entrench themselves fully into practicing the said skill over time, day in and day out with remarkable consistency.

Chapter One: Discovering Your Calling

George Leanord initiates his book with arguably the most crucial component when embarking on your journey towards mastery: your calling. He reiterates what Peterson discusses in his book “Maps of Meaning” in that our innate curiosity is the drive for progress and this is also reaffirmed by the Dalai Lama when he states that pursuit of interest amidst its inherent challenges and setbacks is the path towards fulfillment.

He proposes that you need to “reconnect” with your uniqueness and the childhood inclinations. As we outgrow the maturation process we are often told that our childish dreams are nothing more than fantasy. He argues that those desires (obviously with physical limitation in mind) can be overcome if you decide to pursue such areas of interest in mastery.

“This is the goal of discovering your calling, to see what you can completely lose yourself in, become completely obsessed with. So how do we do that?”

He prescribes three steps you must consider when scouting for your life’s calling:

Reconnect with the innate inclination of your childhood. For me, my passion for STEM was muted by the harsh realities of life and the need to make an income to survive. For you, it may be a passion for music, art, cinematography, cars, investing, or even underwater basket weaving. This step requires deep introspective thought and meditation on discovering your true desires and passions. It won’t be easy and I actually created a questionnaire to help identify such passions (HMU on IG if you want that: @Mondragon.ai).
Next, you must look at your current and future career paths. Critical decisions, as noted by Clear in his book “Atomic Habits” are the crux of your fate. Decide carefully where you wish to go. Before a journey is to start you must set for a destination. Reconsider the separation of work-life and “life” life. The Dalai Lama emphasized this when asked what he did for work in his book “The Art of Happiness: At Work”. His response, well it was “Nothing” This left the interviewer perplexed, and only until later probing he discovered that nothing was because the separation of work and life was not made therefore the two blended seamlessly together as one. If you wish to be satisfied and fulfilled in your work (Career) choose to not separate the two!
Lastly, you must come to the realization that nothing in life is really linear. You will experience many ups and downs in life that will undoubtedly challenge you and make you question your decision. This is normal. DO NOT PANIC AS WHAT IS TO BE EXPECTED. Experiment with the variations of the vocation that you end up choosing. You may enjoy one element more than others or a certain path more than another.

He wraps up chapter one with a quick synopsis and propositions to be considered when discovering your calling and “life’s task”.

Recall Obsessions: What were you enamored by as a child, what do you love to do so much that you’d be willing to do it for free or catching yourself gravitating towards that on your free time? Go after that or start there.
Start Small; Get Specific: Peter Thiel talks about the immense benefit of creating a monopoly through the perfect Niche. Consider his advice again and dominate your niche.
Stay on the Path: The inner voice of deceit and denial will undoubtedly creep into your mind. Do your best to guard yourself against such lies, especially when murphy’s law is attacking you with all its might. Like any storm, this too shall pass. Stay on the path.
Reconsider the Past: Your past life may have led you to where you are today BUT IT DOES NOT DEFINE YOU! As humans, we have the ability to decide who we wish to become and morph into. Your past may be your story but it does not define you.
Reintegration: This closely mirrors #3. You may be persuaded to deviate from the path. Battle that thought with immense discipline and stay on the path.

Chapter Two: Submit to Reality: The Ideal Apprenticeship

Chapter two begins with the realization that the desire for mastery is an intrinsic one, not extrinsic. Otherwise, run the risk of NOT having the need willpower to muscle through the countless plateaus that you will inevitably encounter (more on this later). Transforming the mind, forging one that is filled with immense discipline and challenges you just enough to stay in a constant state of “Flow”. Most importantly, you choose a path of mastery that is challenging and not expedient as that has no inherent benefit to you.

He goes on to list three phases of an ideal apprenticeship:

Observation: You are tasked with doing nothing BUT observing a master in his craft. Learning how s/he does, what may seem like, the same repetitious movement over and over until you discover the minute differences and the exact way it is performed. Do nothing but watch. Let them mirror neurons fire off.
Acquisition: He states that you must learn how to master the ability to remain disciplined enough to concentrate on a singular task. Realize that the repetition of learning new skills can become tedious. This is where the mental fortitude comes into play. Remember, as Peterson said, “What is best for you isn’t always what you want (in fact it usually never is).” Practice makes perfect. That phrase is only partially true, however, the continual repetition over let’s say the magical 10,000-hour mark is what separates professionals from masters.
Implementation: Thought and observing are all necessary components needed to build a foundation of mastery, yet implementation is required for the production of mastery to develop.

Leanord regularly discussed the weight of learning how to operate on a low income, as the process of mastery usually did not bear much (fiscal) fruits. He gave an example also of Einstein who worked at a patent office in his early days. This allowed him to maul over his thought experiments while still being able to pay the bills.

Defy evolution and follow the path with the MOST resistance. We are tempted to find what is most expedient for us but once you are comfortable performing a new skill you cannot possibly enhance from your level of comfort.

Learn to appreciate the failures you will certainly encounter on your journey towards mastery. He gives the analogy of a machine that is malfunctioning (similar to Dalio in his book). This will give clear signs of weakness and vulnerabilities in the machine and alert you on the problematic areas. You must recognize the error and correct it appropriately so that you can continue to function flawlessly.

He detours slightly from here and talks about the inherent importance of trial and error. He prescribes those in their early teens and twenties to explore various fields and career paths. The more explorative they are the more likely they are to discover their “callings” and “talents”

“In this new age, those who follow a rigid, singular path in their youth often find themselves in a career dead end in their forties or overwhelmed with boredom. The wide-ranging apprenticeship of your twenties will yield the opposite — expanding possibilities as you get older.”

Chapter Three: Absorb the Master’s Power: The Mentor Dynamic

In this chapter, Leanord discusses the importance of a symbiotic relationship between the mentor and the protégé. The mentor’s ability to intuitively know where to challenge you and how to mold you are integral components for the apprentice to reach mastery. Additionally, they provide immediate feedback which once again accelerates the learning process.

“Once you have internalized their knowledge, you must move on and never remain in their shadow. Your goal is always to surpass your mentors in mastery and brilliance.”

He accentuates the importance of obtaining and displaying humility during the matriculation process of becoming a master in the chosen craft. Leanord often emphasized the fact that there is “always someone better” and in the case of the master it is a matter of them having more time and experience under their “belt”

Again, he mentions that you must pursue mastery alone with discipline before the right teacher will present themselves to you. Otherwise, you may fall in the pitfall of following a fake “guru” who happens to be a great salesman.

Leanord stressed the requirement of finding a proper mentor, however, the task alone is not always linear. Many mentors may allow you to perfect various skills that the other may be deficient in. Similarly, if you cannot find a mentor, books can be used as great [temporary] substitutes, but they lack the feedback provided by the mentor.

Strategies for Deepening the Mentor Dynamic

A major element of the mentor-protege relationship is contingent on the often harsh criticism of the mentor. Their instruction may seem distant, cold, and often harsh. Even more so their approval may be almost nonexistent. This is the sign of a great mentor. Seeking a mentor who does not give realistic feedback is not useful. If the mentor uses humiliation and pain as reinforcement then that should also be a red flag for you to immediately consider finding a new mentor to learn from. The instruction should be subtle and stern loving but not overpowering as that would likely result in you not reaching your peak potential because the fear of “hurting you” can result in the mentor transitioning into a tyrant (preventing you from excelling according to Peterson).

Lastly, make sure that the instruction is tailored to your needs. This may be conflicting advice as its difficult to know when to challenge the mentor and when to follow. This is why finding multiple mentors (& I’d argue books) to help you better identify tactics that would be useful during this pursuit of mastery and which elements need to be tailored to your specific needs.

Chapter Four: See People as they Are: Social Intelligence

I did not take as many copious notes for this chapter as I did for others, so, sorry in advance. I will recall the chapter to the best of my ability but from what I have jotted this chapter seemed to deviate from the concept of mastery, immensely.

He stresses the importance of perfecting your (likely) inept ability for social intelligence as it relates to executing a mastery level status. “Navigating smoothly the social environment, we have more time and energy to focus on learning and acquiring skills. Success attained without this intelligence is not true mastery, and will not last.”

The author describes social intelligence through two congruent categories: Specific Knowledge and General Knowledge. I’ll break both down for you as well.

Specific Knowledge: Reading People

Your primary objective here is to read people's true values and character by investigating and analyzing their body language, tonality, and words with immense scrutiny.

General Knowledge: The 7 Deadly Realities

From what I remember, Leanord breaks down the 7 deadly sins as they relate to people and to social intelligence as a whole. Understanding these common truths will allow you to better assess and understand humans. Once again still unsure of how this relates to mastery, possibly analyzing the mentor or future students?

Envy: we have natural inclinations to envy the things we do not have (only if exposed to its possibility). This is most often revealed with our jealousy for money, spouses, intelligence, status, likeness, and such. There is a reason “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor” is one of the 10 commandments preached by Moses. He also mentions that to remain incognito you should consider “blending” in with the crowd, being sure not to catalyze the negative emotions by “standing out” and certainly don’t boast of your mastery or success as a result(ahh we found how it ties in with mastery once again).

Conformism: If you recall basic psych classes you will remember the Asch conformity experiment of the 1950s. You should be wary of group-based identity as you often will succumb to their ideologies and prejudices. We are tribal beings, socially, based on the phylogenetic root of our brain therefore creating and adhering to groups is a safety mechanism used to innoculate us from the unknown. However, this sin can be deadly in that it restricts you from pursuing more and developing mastery. Conformity can be closely assimilated with complacency.

Rigidity: Similar to conformity (see above) rigidity emphasizes our desire to adhere to what we know and what works (and what is easy, usually). Therefore habits are the crutch of our future development. The world has become increasingly complex in many ways, and whenever we humans face a situation that seems complicated our response is to resort to a kind of artificial simplicity, to create habits and routines that give us a sense of control. This one is more focused on the importance of breaking bad habits and building new ones that foster growth and development.

Self-obsessiveness: Remember that people are naturally selfish in that they are evolutionarily predisposed to prioritize themselves as a mechanism for survival. Often people will do almost any means necessary to get ahead, especially in a competitive work environment. Be wary of those individuals and their natural tendencies. Look back at “How to Win Friends and Influence People” so that you can win the likes of your colleagues.

Laziness: Appending to the concept of attempting to find the easiest way out, realize that those who seek group work are usually depending on the team to carry the load while they coast to “victory”. Collaboration can often be a guise for laziness — Be careful.

Flightiness: People are fickle and often dominated by their “passions” as said by Marcus. Remember our emotional mind is an elephant and we are just but a small rider who has very little control in the movement of the beast.

Passive Aggression: This sin when interaction on a social level in work can be extremely toxic. The fear of confrontation is usually what engendered one to become passive-aggressive. Address issues head-on, no matter how uncomfortable, the latter is much greater(and far less terrifying), I promise.

Strategies for Acquiring Social Intelligence

Actions always speak louder than words. Often you will find the least productive workers making the most “noise” or conducting themselves with, once again, selfish or even petty characteristics. Let your work do the talking, that will improve your mastery and separate you from the noise.

This section is what I believe to be the truth of life. You are capable of molding your habits by focusing on crafting your identity. Life is a movie and you are not only the main star but you are also the writer and director. You decide what your character will be for each situation and how that character shall act and behave. You must then cultivate the strength to nurture that character through outwards “wins” as Clear discusses in his book “Atomic Habits”.

The last portion of the chapter discusses your ability to understand others and their actions, no matter how negative they may be. This goes back to the Dalai Lama’s prescription of compassion. To have compassion is to understand peoples’ actions are derived by their personal biological predispositions and experiences.

Chapter Five: Awaken the Dimensional Mind: The Creative-Active

This chapter highlights the importance of leaving the inculcation of the apprenticeship with immense courage and boldness. You must be willing to move beyond the comfortable boundaries set by your predecessor. If you aim for a conservative mindset then you are likely to reach stagnation. Seek the path towards expanding your existing knowledge and surpass complacency. The master quickly becomes the innovator as your paradigm of thought alters and you begin seeing your skill through a new lens, a way to be modified, improved, and/or optimized.

“As your thinking grows more fluid your mind will become increasingly dimensional, seeing more and more aspects of reality. In the end, you will turn against the very rules you have internalized, shaping, and reforming them to suit your spirit. Such originality will bring you to the heights of power.”

He outlines the steps for you to empower your growing “dimensional mind”.

Step One: The Creative Task

This step primes you to pry open that dimensional mind that may be sitting dormant possibly because of fear of ridicule or possibly just a lack of self-confidence. He proposes that your emotional commitment can be supplemented by your capacity to choose something you are passionate about (See Discover Your Calling) but also that is just beyond your limits, or maybe the limits of the industry for that matter. Be realistic but dream big — baby steps.

In one of my recent videos (as of writing) I talk about building a savings account as this would allow you to more effectively take risks as you are not paralyzed by the fear of “what if shit hits the fan”.

“If you need everything in your life to be simple and safe, this open-ended nature of the task will fill you with anxiety. If you are worried about what others might think and about how your position in the group might be jeopardized, then you will never really create anything.”

Step Two: Creative Strategies

He prescribes unconventional strategies that can be employed to cultivate creativity.:

Expect the Unexpected: It's impossible to predict the future yet you can be certain, as is life, most things will not go to plan and things will usually falter at the foundation. Your preparedness for such travesties of life will allow you to be better equipped to endure Murphy’s law (What a bitch it is).
Providence will Arise: Your next moment of inspiration come alive in the least expected place. He recommends to write things down in a notepad as the ideas manifest. I like Notion (Thanks @pBenske) and my Apple Notes. Stay open-minded and diverge from rigidity.
Create a Paradigm Shift: The obstacle is the way. Just read that summary or book and you’ll understand this. But find the opportunity in misfortune, even if just a lesson in humility.
Utilize all senses for Thought: Language is one method for conveying ideas or solving problems. Diagrams, pictures, recordings, models, and their likeness all provide ample opportunity to communicate your ideas.

Step Three: The Creative Breakthrough — Tension and Insight

Intellectual fatigue can consume you just as physical fatigue can. Taking the obsessive approach when pontificating new ideas will likely result in frustration and inadequate conceptions. He uses the example of Einstien when working on a formula, THE formula that altered our notion of physics as we know it. “After ten long years of incessant thinking on the problem of general relativity, Albert Einstein decided one evening to simply give up. He had had enough. It was beyond him. He went to bed early, and when he awoke the solution suddenly came to him.” Sometimes time away from the process can yield you the results you are so desperately searching for.

The dichotomy of this mental fatigue is equally true. No sense of urgency can be just as detrimental to overworking. So, set deadlines. Whether these deadlines are real or fictitious they will be used as a tool for you to effectively conduct your processes. There’s a good TED talk on this talking about the “Panic Monster”.

Emotional Pitfalls: Failure, inconveniences, misfortunes, relationship strain, and frustrations are all negative emotions that can impede your ability to move forward. You must cultivate a stoic mindset when tackling these emotions, being sure to control them before they control you.

Complacency: Remember that “all you know is that you know nothing”. You are a student of life and a master’s journey is life long. Stay consistent and stay disciplined when pursuing the path of mastery.

Conservatism: Similar to complacency once you start attaining attention, notoriety or even success you may approach the pitfalls of attempting to conserve that status, therefore, halting your progress and creating stagnation. If you arent growing then you are dying — keep going forward. This actually creates more success as a result.

Dependency: After leaving the inoculation of the apprenticeship phase you may feel yourself seeking continual reassurance and approval from your mentor. Like the bird who leaves the nest, you must take a leap of faith and trust in your own abilities. Anything less than this will result in stagnation and you will be paralyzed by fear and disappointment.

Impatience: Become a masochist. No really, learn to not only embrace “pain” but learn to love it. The path towards mastery is filled with 80% of plateaus, frustration, and angst. The sooner you realize this truth the sooner you will learn to love the process. The best example I can think of is me when prepping for my hundred-mile marathon. I hated running, but during my long runs leading up to the race, I noticed myself slowly enjoying the pain — I actually learned to crave it like an addict who craves the needle. I learned to love that which I so passionately hated.

Strategies for the Creative-Active Phase

Once again Leanord offers up strategies that you can deploy to enhance this “creative phase”

The Authentic Voice: After you have spend countless hours honing your skills and perfecting your craft you will naturally gravitate towards personalizing your skillset to be tailored to your specific “style” and needs. This will be the birthing process of developing “something unique and expressive.”

Mechanical Intelligence: A book that I recently read (can’t remember which one) quoted by saying marketers forgot the first word in their title, the Product. The product should do all the talking for you and a superior mark of your craftsmanship will separate you from the noise.

Natural Powers: The journey of mastery is a marathon not a sprint. Embrace the slow steady pace and the trials and tribulations that you will encounter along the way. This patience is a virtue.

The Open Field: Once again Theil’s concept of creating a mini monopoly in a hyper niche market allows you to dominate a newly crafted audience, YOUR audience.

The High End: “It All Starts with Why” Simon’s book title says it all. When you feel fatigued or as if you are stalling remember WHY you started in the first place.

Alchemical Creativity and the Unconscious: Diving into the unconscious mind is a great source of inspiration (mushrooms anyone LMAO).

Chapter Six: Fuse the Intuitive with the Rational: Mastery

If we freely exercise instinctual habits (within the domain of mastery) supplemented with a rational mind can unlock a power that could yield unimaginable outcomes, blowing past preconceived limitations.

The Roots of Masterly Intuition

Intuition coupled with rational thinking is “This desire for what is simple and easy infects all of us, often in ways, we are mostly unaware of. The only solution is the following: We must learn how to quiet the anxiety we feel whenever we are confronted with anything that seems complex or chaotic.”

The best example I can think of when referring to high-level intuitive thoughts is with trading. When learning how to trade I noticed instinctual inclinations to buy or sell certain pairs without entirely understanding why. As I moved onto mastering the craft I realized to rely more and more on those intuitions, that with time and practice, have proven to be more and more effective. I don’t prescribe you to blindly buy and sell the markets, remember the rational thought process is still a necessary component.

Strategies for Attaining Mastery

Play to your strengths — Supreme Focus: Acknowledging your weaknesses will allow you to focus on your strengths. Supplement weaknesses with people who fill that void within your team otherwise simply focus on your strengths.

Transform yourself through practice — The Fingertip Feel: Practice and time are the differentiating factors between a pro and a master. That time under the belt is what fine-tunes your nervous system (and mind) to effortlessly execute actions like second nature.

Widen Your Vision — The Global Perspective: The goal of this strategy is to widen your gaze and become porous to the world. Your ability to look beyond the societal constructs of your nation/culture will allow you to more tactfully find solutions or create better ideas.

Submit to the Other — The Inside Out Perspective: Quite simply consider the perspective of others. This will almost certainly eliminate any potential conflict and create more understanding for you.

Conclusion

Here are the key takeaways I got from this book, I hope that they are useful for you.

Progress within mastery is incremental with countless plateaus. It’s actually quite literally +80% of plateaus. But when pursuing mastery you are accepting that truth and learning to fall in love with the process.

Finding the Right Mentor: The mentor and apprentice relationship is an integral component for you becoming a master in whatever you decide to pursue. You may use temporary masters like books or even courses (or youtube). These temporary masters should be seen more as supplementary tools rather than a replacement altogether. The mentor will give you immediate feedback on your progress correcting you as needed, while usually solemnly offer rewards (in the form of approval) but certainly make sure your path towards mastery is efficient and effective.

You want to avoid mentors who offer too much praise with very little criticism. They are either lazy or not genuinely interested in your progress. On the contrary, you should not gravitate towards a mentor who uses negative reinforcement often or humiliation as a cheap tactic for poor guidance and instruction.

The 5 Master Keys for Attaining Mastery

Instruction: This is appending from the first lesson (see directly above). Use your mirror neurons to observe the master at their work. Then soak their instruction with immense attention to the details. Attentiveness is the name of the game here and your capacity to remain attentive and retain the newly learned knowledge.
Practice: Practice and time are the integral elements for perfecting a skill. The two are unequivocally responsible for a master becoming a master. You can learn and observe all you want but if you do not move forward with intentional CONSISTENT practice those efforts will be in vain.
Surrender: The emphasis here is to surrender to the process. Realize that this component of your journey towards mastery takes immense patience. Your goal isn’t achieving a new belt like most martial artists in dojos seek, rather the goal is to surrender to the process which is the consistent practice of infinitely repeating tasks.
Intentionality: “Intentionality fuels the master’s journey. Every master is a master of vision.” This is your WHY and the purpose that drives you even in moments of uncertainty and frustration.
The Edge: The edge is a balancing act between the domain of the known and unknown. Your goal is to delicately ride the edge always inching forward. The edge is experience coupled with the pursuit of new knowledge and experiences, continually advancing yourself.