Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment

by George Leonard

Even serious blows in life can give you extra energy by knocking you off dead center, shaking you out of your lethargy—but not if you deny the blows are real. Acknowledging the negative doesn’t mean sniveling; it means facing the truth and then moving on. Simply describing what’s wrong with your life to a good friend is likely to make you feel better and more energetic. Once you’ve dealt with the negative, you’re free to concentrate on the best in yourself. Whenever possible, avoid teachers and supervisors who are highly critical in a negative sense. Telling people what they’re doing wrong while ignoring what they’re doing right reduces their energy. When it’s your turn to teach or supervise or give advice, you might try the following approach: “Here’s what I like about what you’re doing, and here’s how you might improve it.” 3. Try telling the truth. “There’s nothing more energizing to a corporation than for people to start telling one another truth,” says Dr. Will Schutz, who popularized truth-telling encounter groups in the 1960s and is now a corporate consultant. “One of the first results we got after our sessions with corporate executives was that their meetings were shorter than before. One company