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“Mastery” by Robert Greene (Amazon FR link, Fnac link) is a book about how to become a master in your field, based on studying great geniuses, artists, and innovators throughout history. Greene explains that “mastery” isn’t a talent you’re born with, but something we can all achieve if we approach it with patience, method, and passion.
I came across this book because I was really doubting my ability to learn sewing. I’ve been doing it for several months now and honestly, everything I make is a mess. I started doubting my hands, I find sewing weirdly much more complicated than all the other crafts I’ve tried. This book reminded me at just the right time that it takes 10,000 hours to become a master and why it’s always tough when you start something new.
What I love about this book are the parts about learning and the brain. You have to do the same gestures over and over, thousands of times, so that one day your brain creates new connections/synapses just for that. It’s like when you always walk through the same spot in the forest, you end up creating a little path, but if you change routes each time, there will never be a path. With sewing, I don’t do it enough to create that “path” in my head, hence my struggles and the fact that I get discouraged every session.
The other thing I really love is that it encourages you to be a generalist, and not be locked into a single discipline. Today everyone is a specialist in something, but it’s those who have varied knowledge who will be able to make connections and innovate. I think we’ve lost that curiosity and nobody encourages us to step outside our field. The author also pushes us to understand how things work. For me, for example, when I got interested in how textiles are made, I could suddenly buy better clothes because now I recognize quality.
And finally, he emphasizes emotional intelligence a lot, and it’s probably the most important skill to develop.
I find the book a bit long because there are lots of stories and examples from other innovators. But there’s also a abbreviated version if you’re interested.
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