You must choose to take the path of mastery, instead of a quick-fix illusion. The master's journey is one that is filled with long plateaus punctuated by brief spurts of apparent progress. However, the learning that results in the apparent progress goes on all the time.
To most effectively move towards mastery, you must practice for the sake of practice itself.
The Dabbler is someone who enjoys trying new things, but is quickly disappointed by the first plateau and goes try something different.
The Obsessive is results-driven and expects constant progress. He increases his efforts when faced with an inevitable plateau, which ends up burning everyone up.
The Hacker is happy to just get by, and stay on a plateau indefinitely.
It's important to emphasize that mastery is a choice. We must consciously choose what aspects of of our lives we want to master, and which ones we are ok to just get by on.
Our modern consumerist culture is decidedly anti-Mastery. Quick-fixes are espoused over slow-and-steady progress. And we are conditioned to glamorize the rewards while downplaying the hard work and effort it takes to succeed. This trains us to expect a path of endless climaxes, which instead leads to one with a cliff at the end.
The focus on short-term gains vs. long-term growth have also led to many economic disasters such as the S&L crisis. The same quick-fix mentality is the cause of this.
This is a great critique of how our consumerist marketing has created a culture where life imitates art.
From early in life we are trained to study & work hard in order to achieve the next goal. We are never conditioned to enjoy the process of learning and growing, indeed living, itself. The author was fortunate to find Akido, which required him to learn the discipline of enjoying long periods of continued practice with progress that was not apparent.
The irony is that an over-emphasis on goals can make one resent the very work that makes achieving those goals possible. On the other hand, being concious of the direction of one's work towards those goals is equally important, lest one veer off course or get into and endless rut.
While I agree that having a good teacher can help, I don't think the author gives enough credit to self-learning, which is as if not more important than good instruction. As they say "never let an education get in the way of your learning".
Instruction is the first key to Mastery. While a self-taught person (e.g. Edison) can succeed, having a good teacher can be an invaluable advantage.
Look beyond credentials when picking an instructor. Look at his students (the outcome), and observer the interactions during an actual training.
You need to know how to maintain an appropriate separation from and when to say goodbye to a teacher. Don't be too close or too far removed from your teachers.
Practice IS the path of Mastery.
True masters love practice. The Master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer than anyone else.
Surrender to your craft and to your learning. The parable of the cup and the quart: You need to let go of the cup in your hand before you can grab the quart on the table.
There are no experts, only learners.
Intentionality is the practice of using your mind and visualizations to enhance your outcome.
The Edge: Masters accept the paradox of never-ending incremental-improvement through practice and the spirit of pushing the edge to achieve something new.
Homeostasis is the natural tendancy we all have to want to keep things the same. We must uvercome it to enable change. Recognize it is there. Be willing to negotiate with it. Develop a support system to help you through the change. Follow a regular practice, and dedicate yourself to life-long learning.
"I don't want to be saved, I want to be spent." - Frederich Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy.
Society and conformist upbringing tends to quash our individual energy.
We are fascinated by socipaths because they exhibit the raw unbridled energy that we know we have but are afraid to use.
"Our generation has been raised on the idea of keeping your options open. But if you keep all your options open, you can't do a damned thing."
"Whatever you can do - or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic to it." - Goethe.
Keep your eyes on the path, and when you reach the top of the mountain, keep on climbing. -- The focus is on the path, not the goal.
The path is the best possible cure for laziness.
The master is the one who is willing to try, and fail, and try again, for as long as he or she lives.
If all we do is focus on the goal, we cheat ourselves of fully experiencing all the "in-between" time. Seek the richness in all that you do, be it driving to work, or cleaning the house.
Our approach to mastering any activity should be the same, including mastering our relationships. It is funny that we would put more intentional effort into mastering something like our tennis swing rather than something "commonplace" like our relationships.
"To be psychologically balanced and centered depends to a great extent on being physically balanced and centered."
It is important to remember that the mind and body are part of the same system. One doesn't work without the other, and both work better when they are in sync.
The word power comes from the Latin root meaning "to be able". This applies to realizing your potential for mastery.
"The best way to describe your total creative capacity is to say that for all practical purposes it is infinite."