Aggressive Certainty

[repost from forum thread: High Neuroticism - quit poker?]

I just finished reading George Leonard's "Mastery," and even though it was written almost 20 years ago, it distills everything else I've read in the past 3 years about talent and skill into a short, if not qualified, read. 

I say it's not qualified since the author wants the reader to "surrender" (being one of the 5 master keys) and just believe this is how stuff really works then live his life according to it. The only real rationales given are Zen stories and personal anecdotes and even a nod to The Karate Kid. And there's also lots of pages given to personal essays on the ills of modern society. I don't agree or disagree with any of Mr. Leonard's conclusions, but it just drags in some spots and doesn't add (while possibly detracting) from the main message.

I've been fascinated by this genre of self-help since reading about the "10,000 hour rule" in Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers". Books like Daniel Coyle's "The Talent Code" and Matthew Syed's "Bounce" followed up in detail about what goes into these 10,000 hours using modern science and sports psychology to guide them. An honorable mention should also go to Carol Dweck's "Mindset" (published before Outliers) which simply tackles the core driver of talent, namely motivation or mindset.

Some skeptical people might be put off by the Eastern religious tone of "Mastery" and might find one of the later books more to their taste.  But there are passages in "Mastery" that's poetic and beautiful in a way secular books cannot match, so I am not disparaging anyone from reading it.  But all these books are basically re-telling the same story. It's really revealing to know that the method to mastery is ages old and universal. We just have to apply it in our lives.