3-2-1: On the shortness of life, what mastery requires, and how to overlap the things you love

Aikido instructor George Leonard on mastery:

​”How long will it take me to master Aikido?” a prospective student asks.

“How long do you expect to live?” is the only respectable response.

Ultimately, practice is the path of mastery. If you stay on it long enough, you’ll find it to be a vivid place, with its ups and downs, is challenges and comforts, it... See more

"Mastery requires lots of practice. But the more you practice something, the more boring and routine it becomes.

Thus, an essential component of mastery is the ability to maintain your enthusiasm. The master continues to find the fundamentals interesting."

A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himse... See more

“Mastery requires both impatience and patience.

The impatience to have a bias toward action, to not waste time, and to work with a sense of urgency each day.

The patience to delay gratification, to wait for your actions to accumulate, and to trust the process.”