Brain Food: A Series of Plateaus

George Leonard on how mastery is nothing but a series of plateaus with brief spurts of progress:

“The most important lessons here — especially for young people — is that even if you’re shooting for the stars, you’re going to spend most of your time on a plateau. That’s where the deepest, most lasting learning takes place, so you might as well enjoy... See more

Specialization is a ­trade-­off: pursuing one course means not pursuing another. It’s narrowing your focus to increase your impact.

Focused people eliminate options, not accumulate them.

Warren Buffett exemplifies this - he's made his fortune by carefully selecting a few investments and sticking with them for decades, ignoring thousands of other opportunities.

Without a focus, everything becomes a distraction.

In a world of infinite knowledge and finite time, specialization is the key to unlocking mastery. It’s about going deep, not wide.

Specialization has risks. If the world changes, what was once a valuable specialty can become obsolete. And yet, we need specialists. You wouldn’t want a generalist doing your brain surgery or a root canal.

Ultimately, ... See more