- The title of the book (does the book delivers what it suggests it’s going to deliver?

)
By examining the journeys of some of history's most famous masters, such as Einstein, Darwin, and Da
Vinci, Mastery debunks the myth of creativity and shows that there are proven steps you can take to
achieve mastery in a discipline of your choosing.

What is the book’s argument? Identify the thesis and write whether the author achieved the
purpose of the book
Mastery (2012) by Robert Greene explains how to become a master of anything and provides examples
of masters from the past and present. Even if you don’t have natural talent, you can reach mastery with
enough practice.

Does the book do what it says it is going to do? (in this point you need to summarize the book
and write what are the most important aspects of the book)

Mastery can be a goal in itself, and not everyone knows what field they will master when they decide to
pursue it. The process of achieving mastery has three phases. The first phase is the apprenticeship,
which has three modes: Intense observation, learning basic skills and becoming automatic with them
before moving on to new challenges, and critiquing your own work as you go along.

There are three modes of learning. The first is the apprentice mode, where apprentices learn by
observing and imitating their master. The second is the journeyman mode, when they travel to other
places to gain more experience and knowledge. Finally, there’s experimentation, which is when
apprentices can actively test their skills and comfort level in order to prepare for a new phase of life.

After the apprenticeship, there’s a creative and active phase. The master looks at the world with
both creativity and knowledge from the apprenticeship. A master commits to an ambitious goal
that is realistic yet difficult. This commitment may require shifting perspectives or schedules for
deadlines.

The final phase is mastery. It is characterized by the ability to use intuition and accurate
knowledge of a subject. Masters have gained focus through years of study, which has increased
their brain power. They are able to see connections between seemingly unrelated things because
they can look at details in more depth than others do.

- What are the terms used in the book and how are they defined in the book?

I: Discover Your Calling: The Life’s Task

  You possess an inner force guiding you towards your Life’s Task - in childhood this was
clear, and directed you towards activities and subjects that fit your natural inclinations.

II: Submit to Reality: The Ideal Apprenticeship

 After your formal education, when you enter a new career or acquire new skills, you enter a
second phase of learning called The Apprenticeship.The goal of apprenticeship is not money, a
good position, a title or a diploma, but rather learning.

III: Absorb the Master’s Power: The Mentor Dynamic

 The mentor-protégé relationship is the most efficient and productive form of learning. The right
mentors know where to focus your attention and how to challenge you. Their knowledge and
experience become yours. They provide immediate and realistic feedback on your work, so you
can improve more rapidly.

IV: See People as They Are: Social Intelligence

 Social intelligence is the ability to see people in the most realistic light possible.  Being able to
smoothly navigate the social environment gives us more time and energy to focus on learning
and acquiring skills. Success attained without this intelligence is not true mastery, and will not
last.

V: Awaken the Dimensional Mind: The Creative-Active

 As you accumulate skills and your mind becomes more active, you must avoid becoming
conservative and fitting with the group.  Instead, become increasingly bold and begin to
experiment, reforming the rules of your field.

VI: Fuse the Intuitive with the Rational: Mastery

 All of us have access to a higher form of intelligence, one that can allow us to see more of the
world, to anticipate trends, to respond with speed and accuracy to any circumstance. This
intelligence is cultivated by deeply immersing ourselves in a field of study and staying true to our
inclinations, no matter how unconventional our approach might seem to others.

- Give a detailed account of the book’s strengths

Strengths
The best book I’ve ever read on how to master a craft, and full of great advice on how to navigate life,
your career, and learning, on your path to achieving some level of mastery in your field.
The book details every step along the way from figuring out what it is you’re meant to do - your
“Life’s Task” - to how to learn quickly, and the necessary skills (ex: Social Intelligence) to
succeed.

Detailed Strategies for every stage that are mentioned in the book

Based on extensive research on neuroscience, cognitive sciences and various Masters’

biographies.

The examples in the book are easy to understand because they are thoroughly explained. Anyone
who wants to master something will find this book helpful for its case studies as well as
instructions.

Highly recommended the book for anyone seeking to figure out their career, how to learn best,
and ultimately, how to become successful.

- Write in detail the weaknesses of the book or the points that need more elaboration.

Contrary to Greene, I’d argue that we all can’t be Masters. Yet that doesn’t mean we can’t
benefit from Greene’s book.

I found Greene’s book engaging despite the fact that I’m not normally a fan of anecdotal
accounts. No doubt a lot of people have followed the same path yet never achieved the success
necessary to be recognized as Masters. An assured way to success, this book is not.

The book details every step along the way and it does not give any shortcuts to achieve defined
stages more quickly.

- If there are illustrations in the book, were they helpful?

-
THE ULTIMATE POWER
Everyone holds his fortune in his own hands, like a sculptor the raw material he will fashion into a
figure. But it’s the same with that type of artistic activity as with all others: We are merely born with
the capability to do it. The skill to mold the material into what we want must be learned and
attentively cultivated.
—JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

THE EVOLUTION OF MASTERY

For three million years we were hunter-gatherers, and it was through the evolutionary pressures of
that way of life that a brain so adaptable and creative eventually emerged. Today we stand with the
brains of hunter-gatherers in our heads.
—RICHARD LEAKEY

KEYS TO MASTERY
A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from
within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his
thought, because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come
back to us with a certain alienated majesty.
—RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Do not talk about giftedness, inborn talents! One can name great men of all kinds who were very
little gifted. They acquired greatness, became “geniuses” (as we put it), through qualities the lack of
which no one who knew what they were would boast of: they all possessed that seriousness of the
efficient workman which first learns to construct the parts properly before it ventures to fashion a
great whole; they allowed themselves time for it, because they took more pleasure in making the
little, secondary things well than in the effect of a dazzling whole.
—FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE

KEYS TO MASTERY
Among his various possible beings each man always finds one which is his genuine and authentic
being. The voice which calls him to that authentic being is what we call “vocation.” But the majority
of men devote themselves to silencing that voice of the vocation and refusing to hear it. They manage
to make a noise within themselves…to distract their own attention in order not to hear it; and they
defraud themselves by substituting for their genuine selves a false course of life.
—JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSET

STRATEGIES FOR FINDING YOUR LIFE’S TASK

The misery that oppresses you lies not in your profession but in yourself! What man in the world
would not find his situation intolerable if he chooses a craft, an art, indeed any form of life, without
experiencing an inner calling? Whoever is born with a talent, or to a talent, must surely find in that
the most pleasing of occupations! Everything on this earth has its difficult sides! Only some inner
drive—pleasure, love—can help us overcome obstacles, prepare a path, and lift us out of the narrow
circle in which others tread out their anguished, miserable existences!
—JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
STRATEGIES FOR ACQUIRING SOCIAL
INTELLIGENCE
We must, however, acknowledge…that man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for
the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living
creature, with his god-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and constitution of the
solar system—with all these exalted powers—Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp
of his lowly origin.
—CHARLES DARWIN

KEYS TO MASTERY
…Several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what quality went to form a Man of
Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously—I mean
Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without
any irritable reaching after fact & reason….
—JOHN KEATS

- Who can benefit from reading this book?

This book is for anyone seeking to figure out their career, how to learn best, and ultimately, and how to
become successful.How to master a craft, and full of great advices on how to navigate life, your career,
and learning, on your path to achieving some level of mastery in your field.

- How clear is the book structure and its logical flow?

The author focuses on how the concepts of mastery apply to the biographies of masters. The
book includes people from many different industries, backgrounds, and geographic regions. They
include well-known historical masters and little-known present day ones as well. Greene
interviewed some of them while researching the book for this project.

Each chapter will focus on a different master who has mastered his or her field, highlighting the
parts of that person’s life that are most relevant to the subject of the chapter. Next, Greene will
describe how each person accomplished what he did and enumerate ways in which others can do
the same thing. The language is abstract so it can be applied to any industry, goal, or position.

At the end of each chapter, Greene includes a section that describes what tends to happen if you
don’t follow the advice from the previous section. He relies on biographies and interviews for
vivid details about masters like Leonardo da Vinci, and he lists his sources at the end of the
book. Greene doesn’t cite quotes or scientific studies in this book. After reading it, you can find
brief biographies of people interviewed by him in an appendix at the back of this book.

Give your own assessment of the book’s strength and weaknesses

strength

Broaden your mind and helps you how to dissect your work by different strategies to achieve
long-term goals.

It teaches us to have the patience to master the basics – they are the foundation of your unique
authenticity.

It enlightens the readers to remain open and adaptable to new and unexpected ways of looking at
things

It teaches us to be bold, creative and experiment with your skills as you emerge from
apprenticeship.

Weaknesses

Contrary to Greene, I would argue that we all can’t be Masters

No doubt a lot of people have followed the same path yet never achieved the success necessary
to be recognized as Masters. An assured way to success

The book does not give any shortcuts to achieve defined stages more quickly.

- You’re concluding thoughts on the book. (particularly about what did you learn from the
book and your overall opinion of the book)
In the book Mastery, Robert Greene examines the lives of exceptional historical figures like Charles
Darwin and Leonardo Da Vinci to uncover how they become widely-admired Masters. Using the
strategies in this book, you too can become a high achiever and attain mastery in your desired field(s).A
fantastic book on sculpting your mind and your life in the pursuit of mastery. Becoming the best in a
craft, emulating the best practicioners in all fields throughout history. Denying mastery is denying
yourself. It's not about luck or ambition or power, it's about realizing yourself. Remaining passive is a
selfish act: take control of your destiny.