Mastery

Finally a book not so much longer than it needs to be. Started out strong with lots of important reminders of effective ways to think about mastery. Then slowly declined into boring and repetitive territory till the end. Lots of potential for a more powerful book to use this as a starting point.

The main thought: if you want to achieve mastery in something, don't focus on the end goal, focus instead on the path. Love the path and follow it deliberately. Prepare for long plateaus and falls, they are inevitable.

Overall, the book is mostly inspirational, not much practical information.

An excellent book relevant for anyone with long-term goals. Mastery reveals the path to succeeding at difficult tasks. Especially poignant in today's instant gratification (credit-challenged) society, Mastery rebuffs the quick-fix and instead focuses on the keys to life-long learning and true mastery of a subject.

I think I found this book referenced in “The Art of Learning”–it's a similar book. It takes principles from the martial arts (Aikido in this case) and applies them to learning in general. I guess it could be called self-help but it's more like a guide for learning, how to make learning almost anything an enjoyable and rewarding process. Great book.