Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews - Book Club: My Top 5 Takeaways from Mastery by Robert Greene

Episode Date: September 15, 2017

This is one of my all-time favorite success/self-development books and one that I regularly gift and recommend to others because I attribute much of my own success in business and other areas of my life to the lessons found in Mastery--lessons that I believe can transform anyone’s life for the better if they’re truly taken to heart.The premise of the book is simple: any one of us can become an elite performer in a skill or field if we simply embrace and embody established attitudes and behaviors that have produced past and current champions, and more importantly, that every one of us should strive toward greatness if we want to lead fulfilling lives.I think these messages are sorely needed because they’re in stark contrast to much of our mainstream culture, which is producing more and more people who are less and less interested in self-actualization than worshipping and pursuing meaningless materialism, entertainment, and distractions, and who are then dismayed when they realize that their lives feel hollow and insignificant.This philosophical argument was explored in another book that I recommend called All Things Shining, wherein philosophy professors Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly argue that throughout history, we’ve placed tremendous importance and value in notions of sacredness and meaning, but since the Enlightenment, we’ve moved away from these concepts as a consequence of the radical political changes that saw individual autonomy rise above the social order imposed by a God or king. In short, when we abandoned religious and royal dogmas, we tasked ourselves to identify what’s meaningful and what isn’t, and quite frankly, we haven’t done a very good job of it. Hence, the creeping nihilism and widespread malaise of modern life.There’s a pragmatic argument for choosing mastery over mediocrity as well, as our current economy pays a huge premium to people who are willing to do the hard, deep work necessary to demonstrate mastery--if you want to make a lot of money, get so good at something that people can’t ignore you and you’re halfway home--and tomorrow’s economy is going to demand mastery, as more and more simple, shallow, redundant work will be passed off to machines. Want to be notified when my next book recommendation goes live? Hop on my email list and you’ll get each new installment delivered directly to your inbox. Click here: https://www.muscleforlife.com/signup/

Hey, this is Mike from Muscle for Life, and I'm often asked about books. People ask me for book recommendations on various topics. They ask me what book I am currently reading and what books I have recently read and what my favorite books are and so forth. And as an avid reader, I am always happy to oblige and get some book recommendations in return as well. I also just like to encourage people to read as much as possible because I think that knowledge benefits you much like compound interest benefits your bank account in that the more you learn, the more you know, and the more you learn, the more you know,

and the more you know, the more you can do, and the more you can do, the more opportunities you have to succeed. And on the flip side, I also believe that there is little hope for people who aren't perpetual learners. I know that might sound a little bit pessimistic or cynical to you, but let's face it,

life is overwhelmingly complex and chaotic. And if we look around, we can find plenty of evidence that it simply suffocates and devours the lazy and ignorant. So if you are a bookworm and you're on the lookout for good reads, or if you'd like to just get into the habit of reading more, then this book club is for you. The idea is very simple. Every week I'm going to share a book that I've particularly liked and I'm going to tell you why I liked it and give you several of my key takeaways from it. I'm also going to keep these episodes short and sweet so you can quickly decide whether or not a book is likely to be up your alley or not. Okay, so let's get to this week's book, which is Mastery by Robert Green. And if you want

to know how to create more purpose, meaning, and satisfaction in your life, and also how to find more material and interpersonal success while you're at it, then you definitely want to read this book. This is one of my absolute all-time favorite success slash self-development books and one that I regularly gift and recommend to others because I attribute much of my own success in my work and business and other areas of my life to the lessons found in mastery. Lessons that I believe can transform anyone's life for the better if they are truly taken to heart. Now, the premise of this book is very simple. It is that any one of us can become an elite performer in a skill or field if we simply embrace and embody the established attitudes and behaviors that have produced

past and current champions. And more importantly, that every one of us should strive toward greatness if we want to lead fulfilling lives. are less and less interested in self-actualization than they are in worshiping and pursuing meaningless materialism, entertainment, and distractions, and who are then dismayed when they one day realize that their lives just feel hollow and insignificant. This philosophical argument was explored in another book that I recommend called All Things Shining, wherein philosophy professors Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly argue that throughout history, we've placed tremendous importance and value in notions of sacredness and meaning, but since the Enlightenment, we've moved away from these concepts as a consequence of the radical political changes that saw individual autonomy rise above the social order imposed by a god or king. In short, when

we abandoned the religious and royal dogmas that used to rule our lives, we also tasked ourselves to identify what's meaningful in life and what isn't. And quite frankly, I don't think that we have done a very good job of it as evidenced by the creeping nihilism and widespread malaise of modern living. Now, there's also a pragmatic argument to be made for choosing mastery over mediocrity because our economy pays a huge premium for people who are willing to do the hard, deep work necessary to develop and demonstrate mastery. I mean, if you want to make more money, if you just get so good at something that people can't ignore you, you're basically halfway home. And this is only going to become more true in tomorrow's economy, which is going to demand mastery just to compete as more

and more simple, shallow, redundant work is going to be passed off to machines. Shallow, redundant work is going to be passed off to machines. Hey, quickly, before we carry on, if you are liking my podcast, would you please help spread the word about it? Because no amount of marketing or advertising gimmicks can match the power of word of mouth. So if you are enjoying this episode and you think of someone else who might enjoy it as well, please do tell them about it. It really helps me. And if you are going to post about it on social media, definitely tag me so I can say thank you. You can find me on Instagram at Muscle for Life Fitness, Twitter at Muscle for Life, and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. at Muscle for Life and Facebook at Muscle for Life Fitness. All right, let's get to my takeaways. Here is the first one. People who do not practice and learn new skills never gain a proper sense of proportion or self-criticism. They think they can achieve anything without effort and have little contact with reality. Trying something over and over again grounds you in reality, making you deeply aware of your inadequacies and of what you can accomplish with more work and effort.

And my note here is that confidence is definitely important, but if it's not based on a realistic appraisal of who we are and what we can do, it's really nothing more than smugness and delusion. it's really nothing more than smugness and delusion. Self-esteem is a very hot topic these days and especially in the fitness space. And that's something I don't think that we can just conjure up in ourselves by thinking the right thoughts or saying the right words. And we can't give it to others through coddling or osmosis. Really the only way any of us, young or old, can develop self-esteem is by working hard at things that we can't do until we can do them and then repeating the process. Takeaway number two, the future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways. And the process of learning skills, no matter how virtual, remains the same. In the future, the great division will be between those who have trained themselves to handle these complexities and those who are overwhelmed by

them. Those who can acquire skills and discipline their minds and those who are irrevocably distracted by all the media around them and can never focus enough to learn. And my note here is that in the industrial economy of old, people were simply paid to crank widgets all day for a few decades, and then they retired. And those days are long gone. In today's information economy, more and more of the rewards are being reserved for people that can quickly learn how to do complicated things. And this is only going to become more and more pronounced going forward. Next takeaway, mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge. And my note here

is that many people mistakenly think that masters have relied mainly on inborn talent and genius to produce extraordinary works, but this couldn't be further from the truth. As Green illustrates in this book, and as is illustrated by modern scientific research, there is actually very little connection between natural aptitude and mastery. The reality is, with enough deep or deliberate practice, even the most modest beginner can become a virtuoso. Okay, takeaway number four. Too many people believe that everything must be pleasurable in life, which makes them constantly search for distractions and short-circuits the learning process. The pain is a kind of challenge your mind presents.

Will you learn how to focus and move past the boredom? Or, like a child, will you succumb to focus and move past the boredom? Or, like a child, will you succumb to the need for immediate pleasure and distraction? Much as with physical exercise, you can even get a kind of perverse pleasure out of this pain, knowing the benefits it will bring you. In any event, you must meet any boredom head-on and try not to avoid or repress it. Throughout your life, you will encounter tedious situations and you must cultivate the ability to handle them with discipline. And my note here is that our culture no longer promotes the development of discipline through seeking out challenging

situations, enduring the initial wave of confusion, frustration, and boredom that they produce, and then continually sacrificing our present lives for the benefit of our future lives. Instead, we actively avoid whatever is difficult and uncomfortable. We decry life's challenges as unfair and people's criticisms as hurtful. And even our self-help books speak in soft tones, telling us what we want to hear, instead of showing us starkly how far we still have to go if we're going to have any hope of living a good life. So the fifth and final takeaway is, if you're doing something primarily for money and without a real emotional commitment, it will translate into something that lacks a soul and that has no connection to you. You may not see this, but you can be sure that the public will feel it and that they will receive your work in the same lackluster spirit it was created in.

And my note here is that every line of work has its share of drudgery. Mine does, yours does, everybody's does. But if you can't get fired up about the essence of your work, the writing, the programming, the selling, the personal training, whatever it is that you're doing, it's going to show in the details. The best work in every field is always produced by the people that are absolutely obsessed with their crafts. There certainly are things about their work that they are not obsessed with and they would rather not have to do, but do because it just has to be done. But there's something about their work that they are obsessed with. And I also think that every one of us can find something, something we can do, something valuable that we can do, that we can be obsessed with as well. that we can do, that we can be obsessed with as well. All right, well, that's it for this week's book review.

I told you I'd keep it short and sweet. I hope you found it helpful. And if you did, and you don't mind doing me a favor, could you please drop a quick review of the podcast on iTunes or wherever you're listening from, because it really helps boost visibility, which ultimately helps more and more people find their way to the show and check it out. And of course, if you want to be notified when the next episode goes live, then simply subscribe to the podcast and you won't miss out on any of the new stuff. And lastly,

if you didn't like something about this episode or just about the podcast on the whole, then definitely shoot me an email at mikeatmuscleforlife.com and share your thoughts on how I could make things better. I read all the emails myself, and I'm always looking for constructive feedback. So thanks again for listening to the episode. And I hope to hear from you soon. Oh, and before you leave, let me quickly tell you about one other product of mine that I think you might like specifically my fitness book for women, thinner, lean, Stronger. Now this book has sold over 150,000 copies in the last several years and helped thousands of women build their best bodies ever, which is why it currently has over 1200 reviews on Amazon with a four and a half star average.

So if you want to know the biggest lies and myths that keep women from ever achieving the lean, sexy, strong, and healthy bodies they truly desire. And if you want to learn the simple science of building the ultimate female body, then you want to read or listen to Thinner, Leaner, Stronger, which you can find on all major online retailers like Audible, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and Google Play.