Mastery: Robert Greene (The Modern Machiavellian Robert Greene)

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Elevating this brand of altruism over self-aggrandizement, the book becomes his most essential work. During the apprenticeship phase, your goal is not to seek money or status, but to transform your mind and character.

When you find your ideal vocation, it feels “right” and you find yourself learning much faster with a sense of child-like wonder. The only solution for an enlightened person is to let the mind absorb itself in what it experiences, without having to form a judgment on what it all means. Mastery: You've been a humble student and has attained the knowledge about the internal semantics of your skill, it's time for you to invent something new and substantial with your knowledge.Study the behaviors of Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Leonardo da Vinci and the nine contemporary Masters interviewed for this book. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses.

Listen to your inner voice, direct your focus to observe, think deeply and practice something repeatedly until it’s intuitive to you. He said that that was what he had wanted to do, but instead, under pressure from his parents, he had gone through law school. And a lot of the time, our origins give us the right answer for what this might be—that is, what we are naturally drawn to. It feels like Greene is obsessed with seeing the world as a big chessboard where defection is more common than cooperation.Is the repetition of featured stories (you know what I'm talking about if you've read it) such a big deal? If you are doing something primarily for money and without a real emotional commitment, it will translate into something that lacks a soul and that has no connection to you. In case you haven’t been Keeping Up With Greene, his take on life is somewhat merciless and ruthless, and in his Hobbesian conception of the world, it may come as no surprise that this American author suggests turning to warfare psychology to better manage yourself and your surroundings. More than that, it adds a necessary coda to the life and work of this complex, driven, restless man. Each time a profile is incrementally built on, one has to read all the parts that were earlier presented, which is a ridiculous way to treat a studious reader.

Business leaders are often regarded as indefatigable individuals who thrive on minimal sleep while they relentlessly pursue their dream careers. Greene grew up in Los Angeles and attended the University of California, Berkeley, before finishing his degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a B. The author says that when we do it for money and comfort, it’s out of anxiety and to appease our parents.

We indulge in drugs or alcohol, or engage in dangerous sports or risky behavior, just to wake ourselves up from the sleep of our daily existence and feel a heightened sense of connection to reality. Without suffering and doubts, the mind will come to rest on clichés and stay there, until the spirit dies as well.