The book Mastery, by George Leonard, has been an interesting read. I am not usually someone to pick up a book and read it through on my own accord. At times, I will hear of a book that sounds so interesting that I buy and will read it, devouring the words as pages turn. Mastery has been an excellent read. Throughout the story and Leonard’s explanation of the journey to mastery, I constantly tried to hold up the standards and compare them to the choices I have made and my understanding of mastery.

One interesting thing that Leonard notes early on is, “The evidence is clear: all of us who are born without serious genetic defects are born geniuses” (Loc 199 of 1702). He points out that we are able to differentiate ourselves from other animals in our ability to learn. I had never thought of this before. He compares humans to animals in areas of ability and strength, and while I contemplated what I was reading, I had to agree with his premise. His premise was this, “If we were to hold a mammal decathalon with events in sprinting, endurance running, long jumping, high jumping, swimming, deep diving, gymnastics, striking, kicking, and burrowing, other animals would win most of the individual events” (Loc 215-216). He points out that in endurance running, mankind would likely have the best overall performance, but he follows up with this thought, “If we are born geniuses of thought and feeling, we are also geniuses in potentia of the body, and there is undoubtedly some sport, some physical pursuit in which each of us can excel” (216). I have seen this is true. I have seen that when someone focuses with intensity in one field, even without ‘natural born talent,’ they are able to perform well after years of trial and error. 

One of the things I am trying to do in my life is recognize the ‘living’ within it. Lately, I have looked back on different parts of my life in joy, and sometimes in sadness. My oldest daughter in 12 years old, and I have 4 more children right behind her. I sometimes, even at my young age of 36, long for time to go back and see them at different life stages they’ve already passed. Leonard says, “But the real juice of life, whether it be sweet or bitter, is to be found not nearly so much in the products of our efforts as in the process of living itself, in how it feels to be alive” (418). I have found that the products of my efforts affect my living, or how I see life, but it is the pursuit and enjoyment of those products with my family, or in another word, ‘experiences,’ that are most enjoyable. Merely having fame or fortune is not enough. In fact, many times, I’ve told my family I would prefer the wealth without fame, and even then, wealth is not worth it if I have no family with whom to share and use it. In my opinion, fortune or money is just a representation of time, though it can never be traded specifically for more time. It can be traded for things or service that may prolong health, but no amount of money will add years to my life in my dying moment.

Another of the big statements that gave me an epiphany was this, “The courage of a master is measured by…willingness to surrender. This means surrendering to your teacher and to the demands of your discipline. It also means surrendering your own hard-won proficiency from time to time in order to reach a higher or different level of proficiency” (777). The story Leonard shares in particular is that of two students he taught Aikido when they were already proficient in Karate. It was enlightening to learn about the how difficult it was for the one to learn proficiency in Aikido until he surrendered himself to his teacher. I have seen this in my life when I have been stubborn regarding my real estate investments. After years of studying and investing, I ran into a problem, but it wasn’t until I surrendered myself to someone I consider a mentor that I was able to address the problem in the correct manner. A duplex I own in Ohio was doing very poorly, and with his advice, it is now on track to become a golden goose again, or at least I hope. 

In the end, the only way to mastery is to never stop practicing. Leonard says it this way, “What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is practice. Mastery is staying on the path” (774). Many times, I have felt like “the Hacker,” as Leonard describes it, in my real estate experience (295). I feel like I have learned and plateaued, then just sticking with it for the long term. After so many years of “just sticking with it” but not ‘practicing,’ or trying to become better, I almost felt like stopping all together. It is with the idea that if I just keep looking for more ways to improve, even in small ways, that I will succeed in gaining mastery in investing. Perhaps the worst thing I could do at this point is to give up on it and quit investing. I have invested in real estate for 14 years now, and though I feel like the “Hacker” at times, I am likely still a proper student, continuously heading toward mastery.

George Leonard’s book Mastery is something I would recommend as a great read to someone who needs a little more pep in their life. It’s especially a great read for someone starting to play Tennis or Aikido. I’m kidding slightly because those are sports he focuses on at large in the book, or so it seemed to me. Realistically, the art of gaining mastery is never ending. It is accepting that, no matter how minute, there is always something one can improve.
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I wrote this a few years ago for a college class.