Mastery

by Robert Greene

The power they have achieved is clearly the result of effort and process, not genetics or privilege.

eminently attainable.

continual state of change and movement.

deep and primal.

improbable

is there some kind of force from within that makes all living things grow and transform themselves?

bourgeoisie,

wedlock,

enthralled

metamorphosis

deathbed,

Andrea del Verrocchio.

metallurgy.

he determined that he would be the first artist to create realistic angelic wings.

avian

Lorenzo de’ Medici

steeped

concocted)

Anyway, he didn’t care so much about the finished product; it was the search and process in creating something that had always excited him.

compelled

discover the essence of life itself.

illegitimate—it

“Just as a well-filled day brings blessed sleep, so a well-employed life brings a blessed death.”

uniqueness first expresses itself in childhood

a destiny to fulfill.

You come to see pleasure and fulfillment as something that comes from outside your work.

you have no sense of inner direction or radar to guide you.

Work is often seen as a means for making money so we can enjoy that second life that we lead.

part of your vocation. The word “vocation” comes from the Latin meaning to call or to be called.

secularized,

Like Leonardo, you take what you do for others and make it your own.

Feeling that we are called to accomplish something is the most positive way for us to supply this sense of purpose and direction.

We thrive by the collective activity of people supplying their individual talents. Without such diversity, a culture dies.

equal chance for people to express their differences,

your vocation as eminently poetic and inspiring.

“Become who you are by learning who you are.”

transfixed

inadequate.

You must understand the following: 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.

If you reconnect with this core at any age, some element of that primitive attraction will spark back to life, indicating a path that can ultimately become your Life’s Task.

larger evolutionary purpose—they

grew restless.

experiment and discover, not memorize.

graduate department

science was a great romantic adventure,

at Cambridge, for the students and faculty, it seemed to be more like a job; you put in your hours, you contributed some small piece to a statistical analysis, and that was that.

phantom limbs—people

Studying anomalous neurological disorders

Yoky Matsuoka,

loved solving puzzles,