I’ve added notes from the book in this summary.  There are videos on George Leonard’s book “Mastery” on youtube.  Here’s two worth checking out: Animated Book Summary (6 min),  Summary and Review (8 min))

9. Summary: “Mastery”

• It’s hard to be fulfilled and successful when you don’t have Mastery over anything. Mastery is a mindset and process of becoming excellent at whatever you choose to do. (Read “Mastery” by George Leonard)
• Mastery can be achieved by everyone, not just the “naturally talented.” Mastery says there's a methodical, scientific way to achieve excellence.
• Mastery is paramount to personal development because it applies to everything you want to get good at in life. (Health, Success, Relationships, Life Purpose, Love, Sex, Business, Cooking, Sports, Hobbies, etc) It’s one of the most important topics.
• Mastering meta skills that improve everything will compound all your efforts (superlearning, health, discipline, emotional intelligence, epistemology, relationships, etc). A tide that lifts all boats.

These core skills you master will be part of you forever.  They will pay huge dividends over your lifetime.  It’s what makes people seem magical.

• The biggest obstacle to Mastery is naive, unrealistic expectations. Having realistic expectations means you won’t be blindsided when reality hits.

• There’s the Imaginary Mastery curve and the Real Mastery curve.
• The Imaginary Mastery curve falsely says progress is easy, constant, linear and predictable. This mindset sets you up for failure. It’s also what most people believe.
• The Real Mastery curve is like a staircase with deep steps, small rises with long plateaus. True progress challenges your comfort zone.

• A plateau is a period where you're putting in effort but not seeing any improvement. You may even regress a little bit. This throws most people off, but it’s normal. Don’t get disheartened!
• No one can avoid plateaus, not even the “naturally talented.” No one experiences smooth, steady upward growth. You need to get comfortable working while being on a plateau to become truly masterful at anything.
• You deal with the plateaus by expecting them and bracing yourself.  When you commit and work at it you'll get some progress, but it’ll be erratic.

If you're putting in deliberate practice, working everyday, improving what needs to be improved, trust you're moving along the Mastery curve.

• Mastery takes time. It takes time to practice and condition the Mastery mindset. It’s easy to forget that and get demoralized, especially during long projects.
• When you see a top performing athlete, actor, entrepreneur, it's because they've developed Mastery through this gradual process of improving bit by bit. They didn’t find one overnight quick-fix scheme.

◦ In Japan, top sushi chefs start by learning to properly prepare rice for two years.