Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment Paperback – February 1, 1992

This book is a quick read that changed my life!The process Mr Leonard describes in this book is straightforward, easy to understand, and even easier to apply - as long as you can learn to love the journey! This will offer you a great insight into your successes, and other results, and show you a clear path to achievement. You'll be able to understand your own behaviors, and those of others, better and be more mindful of them to help yourself and others achieve your goals while enjoying the process (which is the actual goal itself).A quick warning: this can be a painful read, since we all have times in our lives when we have, and even still will, participate in the patterns Mr Leonard describes as 'Anti-Mastery'. Many have a problem with this part, but it is necessary to accept and come to terms with it, there is no shame in the feedback from past adventures unless you continue to not learn from them, this requires humility and letting go of pretense. If you can manage that you'll be on the path to Mastery sooner than you realize, without even realizing it!An excellent read in conjunction with Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) or Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life (Masterminds Series). Mastery describes how to love the path and progress, Flow describes how to stay engaged and progress when on the 'plateaus' that we all encounter along the path of Mastery. Either on their own is incomplete.

I read a lot of nonfiction, spiritual growth, and self-help books. Over the past twenty years I've participated in the "human potential" community and consciousness movement, through workshops, retreats, and support groups. Why have I never heard of this book before I stumbled across it here on Amazon??? This may not be the "best," most profound or life-changing book I ever read (a generalization I generally try not to make), but in terms of that rare combination easy-to-read AND profoundly thought-provoking, this book ranks close to the top. Leonard writes in a refreshingly plain and direct style, without relying on a lot of outside sources and quotes. I found "Mastery" just as provocative as, say, James Hillman's "The Soul's Code," and a lot less complex and redundant.See other reviews for details. But for me, the most helpful/provocative thesis in this little book (only 150 pp.) is Leonard's emphasis that real growth (mastery, self-fulfillment, englightenment, satisfaction--whatever you want to call it) comes in small spurts/peaks with A LOT of practice, even seeming stagnation, in-between. Recognizing this can avoid a lot of frustration. It also emphasizes that you have to love the practice (what Leonard calls the "plateau") as much as the goal, seeing "practice" as a way of life, not a means to an end. This is one of the best descriptions of "loving what you do/doing what you love" (as Rumi put it) that I have encountered.

Short read. It is a good starter book for someone who has not read up much on this topic. I've been reading other books that cover this topic and they go more into depth, much more, than this book does. If you don't want to go deep into these subjects, this book is for you. It is written to be useful for everyone, open for whatever you are trying to master. Perhaps due to being so general, it cannot go into depth as that might require being more specific. I wish the author had written much more about how to identify a "master" or expert instructor or mentor, how to find one, and when to move on to another master in the future. I also disagree with his idea of when you hit a plateau, to just keep doing the same thing you are doing continuously until you break the plateau. He is correct in that "masters" keep training and practicing, but they also find ways to keep improving when they hit plateaus. They don't just accept they hit a plateau and just keep doing the same training. There are many more modern books written on breaking through plateaus and the general advice is to reflect and make changes to what you are doing to keep improving. To get to mastery, you need to be continuously improving, even if only by 1% at a time.

If you're deciding whether or not to read this, think about the core message of this book: mastery is a path, not a destination. This book then lays out a roadmap for anyone seeking long-term fulfillment, giving practical wisdom for how to master specific disciplines. This approach directly opposes modern obsessions with quick fixes and instant gratification, instead opting for a more deep and meaningful approach to life's challenges. If you're ready to start your journey of mastery without any concern of when you will arrive at a destination, then I highly recommend you read this to be inspired and encouraged on your path.