Mastery: Robert Greene (The Modern Machiavellian Robert Greene)

Product Information

Robert Greene's Mastery explores the lives of many historical Masters (Mozart, Da Vinci, Proust, etc.) and explains how their Mastery is attainable for everyone. By ignoring societal constraints and complications, following our own interests, serving time in an apprenticeship phase, and staying committed to our craft, Greene believes that everyone can become a Master and make lasting contributions to society.

In our full Mastery summary, we explain the strategies for becoming an ideal apprentice, including: So I’m not arguing in favor of conformity. It’s just as I’ve grown older I’ve noticed that while everyone agrees (in theory) that conformity is bad, (in practice) they conform on a number of fronts, and that the reasons for this conformity are most often benign, and that paradox is interesting to me. Here’s the cherry on top though: you’re not just at war with the world, you’re at war with yourself! The first part of the book is entirely dedicated to “Self-Directed Warfare”, or how to beat yourself. It’s a rather more bellicose path to self-growth than the one followed by traditional self-help books. However, if you’re a natural fighter and like to live life with your metaphorical guns a’ blazing, this could be an eye-opener and one of Greene’s must-reads books. Tautologies - such as, “All sound is vibrations.” “Inspiration leads to creativity and creativity leads to inspiration.” “Everything in nature has a structure.” It’s a weakness of style.Being born with a gift is a curse if you don’t learn to work hard at it Chapter 2 – Submit To Reality: The Ideal Apprenticeship Greene's first book, The 48 Laws of Power, first published in 1998, is a guide for anyone who wants power, observes power, or wants to arm themselves against power. The laws are derived from the lives of strategists and historical figures like Niccolò Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Haile Selassie I, Carl von Clausewitz, Queen Elizabeth I, Henry Kissinger, and P.T. Barnum. [8] Each law has its own chapter, complete with a "transgression of the law," "observance of the law," and/or a "reversal." While I like Greene's message and find his writing to be absorbing, I have some serious concerns about this book. First is the fact that Greene's conclusions stem from extremely shaky "evidence". There are practically no scientific studies cited in this book, and very rarely do Greene's interpretations involve any proof at all. Every piece of evidence that Greene presents to support his theory is anecdotal. Greene is not a scientist himself, and really gives no reason why we should believe his arguments. Throughout this book, I could not help but think that anybody could have come to Greene's conclusions and presented them as facts. So, why should we believe in what Greene has to say? Unfortunately, this book never provides an adequate answer. We are left to assume that what Greene tells us is true, because Robert Greene says so. Advance through trial and error: don’t follow a linear path. Learn as many different skills as you can in the area that interests you.

I probably still don't know the answer to that, but I have now finished reading one of his books, and it is written from what feels like a different point of view. For while the earlier book was about how to gain and hold control of other people, this one is about how to find, develop, and fully realize one's own Life's Task. There is still one section of the book devoted to the politics of "mastery"--how to deal with the envious, the lazy, and the clueless--but most of the advice concerns how to apply one's own effort. Remember Pat Benatar’s classic, “Love is a Battlefield”? Well, prepare for DJ Greene’s remix: Life is a battlefield. The premise of Greene’s next book in our Robert Greene book review 33 Strategies takes centuries of military tactics and intelligence and applies them to every-day life. Take on Life RobertGreene conducted many interviews with accomplished individuals and studied the biographies of numerous influential figures, such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Ben Franklin, 50 Cent and so on.Value Learning Over Money: learning is the N.1 priority over everything else. If you can afford, work even for free as people will be more likely to teach you and divulge their secrets Suffer fools gladly: fools are governed by their ego and are more interested in public approval and their personal career than in the truth. Do not lower yourself to their value Social intelligence is essential. To win mastery, you have to play the game, which sometimes involves dealing with politics and other bullshit. Know how to read people, and avoid the seven deadly realities that he talks about ("envy", "self-obsessiveness", "conformism"), etc. Deal with the politics—don't be idealistic and try to avoid them. Be like Benjamin Franklin in his famous book-borrowing thing. Let your work show your excellence. However, those bullet points didn’t always seem like actionable steps. One example: the step “craft the appropriate persona” doesn’t say much about how to do that, so it feels like those lists don’t always deliver on their promise. Mastery Review Mastery is another great book by Robert Greene. I’m constantly amazed by Greene’s depth of insight into human nature.