Mastery: Robert Greene (The Modern Machiavellian Robert Greene) Paperback – 19 Nov. 2012

Marvellous book that teaches self mastery and the steps towards it with real life examples and plenty interesting stories within

Mastery by Robert Greene enables You to know Thyself.As you read through the book, you will come to fully realize and appreciate the hard work that is needed in to accomplish one's Life's Task. You may call it your Definite Purpose in life-as famously coined by Napoleon Hill-and by right this book is somewhat an expression of a modern age "Think and Grow Rich". Contained in Robert's book is a seminal idea, borrowed from the wisdoms from ages past and present, whose time has finally come.Anyway, the geniuses of the ages attained their eternal glory not on luck or talent alone but on constant challenges and diligence on becoming a master over their chosen field. For instance, Robert Greene gave detailed accounts on the precarious journeys taken by Charles Darwin-the famed naturalist-in his early years, ones which is marked by constant bitter dispute with the father and criticism from those who disdained his peculiar ideas. Here Charles were sent, unwillingly by his father, to the far corners of Africa. This to examine specimens.Initially the young Darwin hated the idea of being forced to conform to the paternal standard(who doesn't?), but as soon past he quickly realized how it all became a blessing in disguise. It helped develop his spiritual metal to fend off critics for the years to come. And being sent to Africa attuned himself to his Life's task, on his setting the road for his masterpiece later on in his life entitled "On The Origins of Species".Being only twenty years old makes me very fortunate to have this book, because the ideas contained in it forces me to think about my Life's Task. This by finding my "inner voice". Which as a child, possessed my thoughts, that steered me to write, imagine and sketch enterprises. This "inner voice" took a long time to retrieve nonetheless, largely thanks to the regimented schooling environment I was brought up in. On which being different meant being an outcast to your schoolmates, and punishment by your teachers. After three days reading the book, I got a clearer view on my Life's Task and finally connected more effectively with my "inner voice".Please whoever you are, purchase and read this book. The investment made would be well worth it for you and your family's well being in the long run. I stand my ground on this given the amount of value I have attained, enabling me to know more about myself. And the points and examples mentioned in this review only cover a small fragment of the values of reading Robert's book! That is how golden it is.*Mastery is my first ever direct Amazon book purchase(instead of the "used" option). Knowing full well that value rendered is well worth it in the long run for my career. Thank you Robert Greene. You deserve your success*

I came across this book purely by chance, and having loved his book about power, The 48 Laws of Power (Which I have also reviewed, so I won't go into it here) I bought the paperback. To my knowledge, there's an abridged (posh word for shortened) edition, but this is the whole enchilada at well over three hundred pages! It took a while to read, and the print is really small, so it's best you get the kindle version if your eyes aren't what they were! So, Monsieur Greene, on this outing, teaches some really valuable lessons on exploring the full potential of the human psyche using past and present masters of their crafts as examples, like Leonardo Da Vinci, Goethe, Faraday and Einstein. It's totally changed my perspective on life, as Greene suggests that we find our Life's Task, and not close off our minds to learning new skills and embracing change, whatever our age, instead of getting comfortable, because it's safe and reassuring. He mentions the importance of mentors, and that, in some cases, we have to mentor ourselves if no such mentors are available to us. And the important stages of learning an apprenticeship, from observation, to breaking free and striking out on your own. I found it really informative and useful, and I came away with two memorable pieces of information, one being that, when you feel you have nothing left to learn in a job or apprenticeship, it's time to leave, and a great quote by Einstein, who viewed the intuitive mind as a 'sacred gift' and the rational mind as 'a faithful servant.' He said that 'we have created a society where we honour the faithful servant and forget the gift'. There's something for everyone in this gem of a book if you stick with it, and what you can take to the bank is that Greene states that we all have it within ourselves to be masters and modern day geniuses, and that it's not merely the preserve of those who are 'naturals', He illustrates this point by referring to a pilot who was not naturally gifted, who put in the training and the hours to become one of the best, even when the odds were stacked against him, and the dedication of a top basketball player who, while not naturally gifted at the sport relentlessly displayed such dedication, passion and commitment, and the hard work paid off. Greene's message is clear, to truly get the most out of our lives, we have to push past our comfort zones and see what we are really capable of, with the right inspiration and guidance. Everyone should read this book, and I, for one, am very glad that I did. Well worth its five star rating!

I was a little suspicious of this book, as there are so many 'motivational'-type books out there, but actually it rather grew on me.It sets out to explain how to become an expert at something, illustrated by various examples from the lives of famous and not-so-famous people. Eloquently written, these are genuinely interesting and inspirational. As Greene has used such a wide range of examples, they will strike chords with different readers - so not merely obvious ones from the arts and sciences (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci), but even a boxing trainer and a fighter pilot.The broad message is a familiar one - keep working obsessively at it for years, and don't expect instant results - but with various more specific insights, e.g. that once they achieve a level of mastery people acquire an intuitive, holistic overview of their subject matter that transcends the details they have mastered - seeing the wood rather than the trees - which applies equally to chess, piano playing, painting, etc. (I've some personal experience of this phenomenon in music, and am just starting to sense it in chess.)My only, minor, criticism is that each of these life histories is revisited several times in the book to illustrate different points, thus becoming a little repetitive. But there is plenty of material covered here, and readers will no doubt identify further points relevant to them that are not explicitly discussed by the author.