So I just read the book Mastery by George Leonard. This is an incredible book and helped me along my path. The things that stood out most to me were enjoying the practice not just the big game. I find this crucial because so much time will be spent practicing and you will never work towards mastery if you don’t enjoy this part. Also learning to enjoy plateaus, because they represent a certain level you have achieved. Allot of time is spent in plateaus so learning to enjoy them is key. I love the theory of homeostasis seeing how anything you try at first may seem wrong but it is really your body naturally reacting to change! This can be in the form of anxiety, out of breath, many different forms. Now that I realize it exists I can over come it. One of the things he talks about is energy. This hit me to my core because I always want more energy. It’s important to select a few things and begin to work on mastering them. To much and you waste energy and get no where. For me natural game is my front runner. I Love it because it pushes me so hard to become a man that takes what he wants and is free from giving a damn what others think of me. One thing I have decided to do is keep a journal of all my in field experience and plan to go out 3 times a week. I plan to keep track of the number of times I go out with the intention of doing an RSD boot camp every 80 times. This will allow me to have some form of coaching like the book talks about and this will push me towards always improving my game. I took certain passages out of the book that I found inspiring so enjoy.
17- How do you move toward mastery? To put it simply, you practice diligently,
But you practice primarily for the sake of the practice itself. Rather than being frustrated
While on the plateau, you learn to appreciate and enjoy it just as
Much as the upward surges
48-Goals exists in the future and the past, beyond
The pale of the sensory realm. Practice, the path of mastery,
Exists only in the present. You can see it, hear it, smell it, and feel it.
To love the plateau is to love the eternal no.
TO love the plateau is to love what is most essential and enduring in your life
55- IF you intend to take the journey of mastery, the best
Thing you can do is to arrange for first- rate instruction.
67-The best horse may be the worst horse. And the worst
Horse can be the best, for if it perseveres, it will have learned
Whatever it is practicing all the way to the marrow of its bones.
The person with exceptional talent: to achieve his or her full potential. This person
Will have to work just as diligently as those with less innate ability.
79-To practice regularly, even when you seem to be getting nowhere,
Might at first seem onerous? But the day eventually comes when
Practicing becomes a treasured part of your life. You settle into it as if
Into your favorite easy chair, unaware of time and the tubule of the world. It
Will still be there for you tomorrow. It will never go away
96- All I know, said
When you see the vision there-- the beautiful vision-- that creates the want power. For example my wanting to be Mr. Universe came about because I saw myself
So clearly, being up there on the stage and winning. Inteitolaity fuels the master’s journey. Every master is a master of vision.
110- Homeostasis works to keep things as they are even if they aren't very good. Say you go running for first time in a long time. It starts to hurts. What you’re really getting is a homeostatic alarm signal- Bells clanging, WARNING! Significant changes in heart rate, metabolism. Whatever you’re doing, stop doing it NOW Homeostasis, doesn’t distinguish between what you would call change for the better and change for the worse. It resists all change.
114 - 118
Steps for Mastery
1. be aware of the way homostatstasis works.
2. Be willing to negotiate with your resistance to change
3. Develop a support system
4. FOLLOW a regular PRACTICE
5. Dedicate yourself to life long learning
120-A human being is the kind of machine that wears out from lack of use. There are limits, of course, and we do need rest and relaxation, but for the most part we gain
Energy by using energy. Often the best remedy for physical weariness is thirty minutes of aerobic exercise.
126- Truth telling works best when it involves revealing your own feelings,
Not when used to insult others and to get your own way. All in all, it has a lot going for it- risk Challenge, excitement, and the release of all of that energy
129-Ultimately, liberations come through the acceptance of limits.
You can’t do everything, but you can do one things, and then another and another. In terms of energy, its better to
Make a wrong choice than none at all.
138- Vanity- To learn something new of any significance, you have to be willing to look foolish.
140 -The quality of a Zen students practice is defined just as much by how he or she sweeps the courtyard as by how he or she sits in meditation. Could we apply this way of thinking to less esoteric situations? Could all of us reclaim the lost hours of our lives by making everything- the commonplace along with the extraordinary-- a part of our practice?
148-150
Break down of steps to mastery
1. Practice
2. Surrender- Surrender to your art. Letting go of outward behavioral patterns to try new ones .Can you let go of an outward behavior pattern without knowing exactly what will replace it? Are you willing at time to yield totally on some long standing dispute for the sake of growing and change in your relationship? Trick is learning to lose your ego without loosing your balance
3. Intentionally- To cultivate a positive attitude is to take a large step on the path of mastery.
4 The Edge The path of mastery is built on unrelenting practice, but it’s also a place of adventure.
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