Mystery Gift Box #012 | The Game to Mastery

Hey friends,

The game to mastery; the self-directed apprenticeship.

For any new pursuits, before mastery, you are a level zero apprentice.

Ideally, you would take on new challenges to transform and level up yourself; to eventually become the master of the pursuit.

The problem is that most people plateau at certain point and never reach mastery…

I have summarised Robert Greene’s work on how to overcome plateaus and achieve mastery into 10 principles:

1. You need BOTH consistency and intensity of focus to achieve mastery. Missing either one would lead to plateaus eventually

2. Make decisions that maximise learning

   1. Learn from everything; good and bad situations

   2. Never be satisfy with the knowledge that you have acquire; always look to learn more

   3. Master the details and mastery will come over time

3. Find a mentor; in-person or virtual resources (books, podcasts, etc)

   1. A mentor is the only “shortcut” to mastery

   2. Look for someone who inspires you and connect with your life’s task

   3. Think about how you can help your mentor to create a mutually beneficial mentor-apprentice relationship

   4. Internalise and absorb the important knowledge from your mentor and cut everything else that doesn’t resonate with you… the part that don’t resonate, apply your own style to it

4. Be patient

5. Establish your own style and uniqueness

   1. Learn the fundamental first, then think about how you can rewrite the fundamental

      1. Have the humility and curiosity of a child

   2. Be unique; that way you will be needed and necessity rules the world; make yourself a necessity

   3. Devise your own personal routine that fits with your life goals, situations, and energy

6. Honest self-reflection is key to growth

   1. Learning how to learn is the most important skill to acquire

7. Adopt resistance practice; practice pushing yourself against your natural tendencies. If you feel discomfort in doing something, push yourself to overcome the resistance. Overtime, you will have a strong muscle to push against resistance

   1. Failure from taking actions is a whole lot better than failure from inactions

8. Always look to expand your circle of knowledge; when one circle becomes comfortable, look to expand it or explore new circles; venture outside your comfort zone

   1. Be a specialised generalist; acquire a set of skills in different areas that excite you and look to combine them to create your own mastery

9. Have a group of people that share similar values and purpose and spend time with them… everyone would help each other within the group

10. The goal of the apprenticeship is to transform your mind and character… these should be the first transformation towards mastery

🎶 One Piece Film: Red Songs

Have interesting gems you want to share with me and others? Share it by replying to this email and I will include it in the next gift box :)

With love,

Ryan O. 🎮

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