The Path of Mastery

Some books you just have to be ready to read. I first read George Leonard’s, book, Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment thirty years ago, soon after it first came out. I found it useful, but it is only now that I chanced upon it on my bookshelves and re-read it, that it has deeply affected my thinking. I feel like I am ready because for the past ten months I have taken up the challenge of learning how to draw.

What about you? Have you ever had ambitions of mastering a skill or activity, only to abandon it soon after the initial enthusiasm? Or do you find yourself stuck in a rut, needing a new challenge to occupy your attention and fire your enthusiasm? I’ve been in both situations—repeatedly—and I know how difficult and rare it is to master a new skill, especially later in life.

If so, it helps to have a mentor to place you on the proper path and guide you along it. Leonard died in 2010, but his short and insightful book can provide the wisdom and instruction that can improve your chances of success.

The key insight, for me, is that mastery is not a goal. It is a never-ending path. Once you step on the path, you will never reach your destination, but you can go far. How far you go depends on what you do while on the path, and how long you stay on it.

Your progress will vary; you will probably make quick progress at first, and then you will inevitably hit a patch where you don’t see any improvement at all and may even regress. That’s when it’s so easy and common to get frustrated and quit, or impatiently double down on your efforts and possibly get even worse.

Many people never get past this first plateau, but those that stick with it are generally rewarded with another burst of improvement, and on it goes. Leonard’s key point is that the real improvements are actually occurring during these plateaus, as your brain and body gradually figure out how to turn the required behaviors into unconscious habits. The bursts of improvements are merely the markers of that progress.

You will spend most of your time on the path on one of these plateaus. Plateaus are good. Mastery, therefore, comes from embracing those plateaus. For me, this is the most important point: learn to love the practice for its own sake. Practice, according to Leonard, is not a verb but a noun: you have a practice—an approach or a process—that is worth following for its own sake. Masters love to practice.

This idea resonates with a concept I’ve written about before:

There are two general types of goals that people set for themselves, performance goals and learning goals. Performance goals are about reaching a set target, which is frequently related to how you compare to others. Learning goals focus on learning, getting better and comparing yourself to yourself.

The idea may seem to counter results-oriented business activities. But even in sales, one study has shown that salespeople who pursue learning goals outperform those who chase performance goals.

What is success? Is it the reaching of a difficult and meaningful goal, or the enjoyment and fulfillment that comes from being dedicated to the pursuit? The beauty of following Leonard’s advice is that you will not only enjoy the journey, but you will be more likely to reach a worthwhile destination.

As for drawing, I have no expectation of ever mastering the skill. But after ten months I am no longer terrible at it, and next month I’ll be better, and the month after that. Most importantly, I am so enjoying the effort—and that in itself means I’ve already succeeded. Mastery is not the destination, but the path.