Author of Mastery: The One Thing To Focus On In Your 20′s
2013-2014

Author of Mastery: The One Thing To Focus On In Your 20′s

Author of Mastery: The One Thing To Focus On In Your 20′s

MASTERY

What is all this Mastery talk I’ve been hearin? Parker ordered the book and got me pumped about it, then I listened to this JRE podcast at work the other day, and found out.  (Btw, try listening to JRE as a switch-up from music one day. It’s the most mind-expanding thing out there… if you’re into philosophy. Get the podcasts app on your phone. Do it.)  This one with Robert Greene, author of Mastery, is one of the best yet. The whole thing riddled with golden nuggets of wisdom.

This dude Robert Greene is a beast. Like, meditates every morning in a crazy yoga pose type of beast.  He’s famous for his book The 48 Laws of Power, which is basically a psychology book on why people play the silly games they do just to get what they want (in the words of Greg Proops, ‘wealth and shit?’ lol) and how we can recognize these ‘mind-fucking’ tactics, to use the scientific term, so we can side-step them, or opt out of silly mind-games altogether.

My man 50 Cent got involved with Robert Greene in 2009 to write a sequel, The 50th Law, because he’d experienced some ‘douchebags’ in the music biz and wanted to expand on these powerful mind tricks that were being used with his wisdom from the streets and the drug game.

50 is a beast not because he’s the best at one single thing, but because of his ability to expand. Explore. To keep growing and re-inventing. Not to mention the ability to prevail thru suffering (50 was shot 9 times and survived, and his mom and his rap mentor were both murdered).  He finally left the major label, and has no signs of slowing down as a creative entrepreneur.  50 and Greene both exemplify the well-roundedness that Greene says it takes to become a true master. They are both on the path. To Mastery.

50 Cent performs at SXSW on March 11, 2014 Misha Vladimirskiy/FilterlessCo

“I’m trying to get you to that well-rounded form of Mastery. You have to learn how to deal with people. You have to be socially fluid. You have to know how to be empathetic.” – R. Greene

So What is Mastery?

At it’s core, Greene thinks it has something to do with ‘well-roundedness.’ To be a true Master, I think he wants us to know that it also takes social and spiritual talent as well, not just mastering one thing.

Robert Greene is a very spiritual dude, he’s a Buddhism history buff, and I think the path to mastery ties in well with the path Buddhist monks take to achieve enlightenment. The key message here being, it requires going thru a lot of strife, before you get to be a kickass Master.

“You gotta have the Yin, to get the Yang.” – J. Rogan

There’s no clear cut path to enlightenment. You have to experience the pain if you want to experience the joys. There are no shortcuts. Your experiences are what make you a master.

“It’s a loose path. Its not like a straight line.” – R. Greene

There is no monk who gets to achieve enlightenment without going through years of pain.Years of your teacher slapping you on the forehead, starving you, stretching you, molding you, trying and falling, getting feedback, trying and falling, getting feedback.

“F*ck working for retirement. You gotta enjoy every step along the way. Do what the f*ck you love to do the whole time, and you’ll smile at the end.” – Aubrey Marcus

Mastery is discovering who you are, what you want to do. That’s Greene’s first stage. Then Apprenticeship, then Creativity, then Mastery. I’m excited to be in the first stage – discovering who I am and what I want to do. To work on that, we’re traveling the world. Starting in Africa. Then India, all the way to Thailand. Then Mars.. (jk, or not?)

“Start having adventures. Start living life. That’s where the real education is.” – James Altucher

^Quote from his podcast called Why College is a Waste of Money, check it out, and his book called Choose Yourself.  While you’re at it, you might as well check out video too on VICE,  Is College Worth It?

The Adventure

passport travel livin that life

Here it is, what the author of Mastery thinks you should focus on in your 20′s:

“The goal of your life in your 20′s should be learning as much as possible,  not worrying about how much money you’re making, giving yourself the freedom to make mistakes, to explore, to have some adventures… and you’re gonna make that money eventually” – Robert Greene

Yup. The Number 1 thing to focus on in your 20′s: Adventure & learn as much as possible. I’m interpreting that as: travel to new countries and cultures, explore your interests, try things that are out-of-the-box.

Thank you Mr. Greene for that confirmation, sir. Don’t chase the paycheck, chase the experience. Got it.

To hear the part on the biggest trap: the money trap, fast-forward to 1:16:10, or click here. It’s the idea that when you become used to a good regular paycheck and the associated luxuries, it can make someone less likely to re-route to a newly found, lesser-paying  path that is more correctly aligned with the true self, because nobody likes to ‘downgrade’ their level of consumption. If you take a paycut, and you spend like you’re used to, you go broke. It happens to NFL players, it happened to me. So, I guess we shouldn’t worry about the highest paychecks right now.  Does that mean school’s not over just yet? Yes! Cause I F*ckin Love Learning!

Looking back, I’m glad I quit my good regular paycheck job that wasn’t aligned with where I want to go as soon as I did.  Now I spend more time exploring where I want to go with this thing.  Moving abroad was already on the agenda, but now I’m calling it a strategic first step, on the path to mastery.

Choose Yourself - Livin That LifeMastery Robert Greene - Livin That Life

Yin-Yang - Livin That Life

~Here’s to some crazy adventures.

-Pliezdagod

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