#mastery quotes

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Pay less attention to the words that people say and greater attention to their tone of voice, the look in their eye, their body language—all signals that might reveal a nervousness or excitement that is not expressed verbally.  If you can get people to become emotional, they will reveal a lot more.  Cutting off your interior monologue and paying deep attention, you will pick up cues from them that will register with you as feelings or sensations.  Trust these sensations—they are telling you something that you will often tend to ignore because it is not easy to verbalize.

Robert Greene, Mastery

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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.  But there is another element, an X factor that Masters inevitably possess, that seems mystical but that is accessible to us all.  Whatever field of activity we are involved in, there is generally an accepted path to the top.  It is a path that others have followed, and because we are conformist creatures, most of us opt for this conventional route.  But Masters have a strong inner guiding system and a high level of self-awareness.  What has suited others in the past does not suit them, and they know that trying to fit into a conventional mold would only lead to a dampening of spirit, the reality they seek eluding them.  And so inevitably, these Masters, as they progress on their career paths, make a choice at a key moment in their lives: they decide to forge their own route, one that others will see as unconventional, but that suits their own spirit and rhythms and leads them closer to discovering the hidden truths of their objects of study.  This key choice takes self-confidence and self-awareness—the X factor that is necessary for attaining mastery.

Robert Greene, via 14 Quotes on Mastery

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You possess a kind of inner force that seeks to guide you toward your Life’s Task—what you are meant to accomplish in the time that you have to live.  In childhood this force was clear to you.  It directed you toward activities and subjects that fit your natural inclinations, that sparked a curiosity that was deep and primal.  In the intervening years, the force tends to fade in and out as you listen more to parents and peers, to the daily anxieties that wear away at you.  This can be the source of your unhappiness—your lack of connection to who you are and what makes you unique.  The first move toward mastery is always inward—learning who you really are and reconnecting with that innate force.  Knowing it with clarity, you will find your way to the proper career path and everything else will fall into place.  It is never too late to start this process.

Robert Greene, via 14 Quotes on Mastery List

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There are many paths to mastery, and if you are persistent you will certainly find one that suits you.  But a key component in the process is determining your mental and psychological strengths and working with them.  To rise to the level of mastery requires many hours of dedicated focus and practice.  You cannot get there if your work brings you no joy and you are constantly struggling to overcome your own weaknesses.  You must look deep within and come to an understanding of these particular strengths and weaknesses you possess, being as realistic as possible.  Knowing your strengths, you can lean on them with utmost intensity.  Once you start in this direction, you will gain momentum.  You will not be burdened by conventions, and you will not be slowed down by having to deal with skills that go against your inclinations and strengths.  In this way, your creative and intuitive powers will be naturally awakened.

Robert Greene, Mastery

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You must see your attempt at attaining mastery as something extremely necessary and positive.  The world is teeming with problems, many of them of our own creation.  To solve them will require a tremendous amount of effort and creativity.  Relying on genetics, technology, magic, or being nice and natural will not save us.  We require the energy not only to address practical matters, but also to forge new institutions and orders that fit our changed circumstances.  We must create our own world or we will die from inaction.

Robert Greene, via 14 Quotes on Mastery List

[movemequotes]

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.  But there is another element, an X factor that Masters inevitably possess, that seems mystical but that is accessible to us all.  Whatever field of activity we are involved in, there is generally an accepted path to the top.  It is a path that others have followed, and because we are conformist creatures, most of us opt for this conventional route.  But Masters have a strong inner guiding system and a high level of self-awareness.  What has suited others in the past does not suit them, and they know that trying to fit into a conventional mold would only lead to a dampening of spirit, the reality they seek eluding them.  And so inevitably, these Masters, as they progress on their career paths, make a choice at a key moment in their lives: they decide to forge their own route, one that others will see as unconventional, but that suits their own spirit and rhythms and leads them closer to discovering the hidden truths of their objects of study.  This key choice takes self-confidence and self-awareness—the X factor that is necessary for attaining mastery.

Robert Greene, Mastery

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Real success is success with self.  It’s not in having things, but in having mastery, having victory over self.

Anwar Sadat

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Masters manage to blend the two—discipline and a childlike spirit—together into what we shall call the Dimensional Mind.  Such a mind is not constricted by limited experience or habits.  It can branch out into all directions and make deep contact with reality.  It can explore more dimensions of the world.  The Conventional Mind is passive—it consumes information and regurgitates it in familiar forms.  The Dimensional Mind is active, transforming everything it digests into something new and original, creating instead of consuming.

Robert Greene, Mastery