#052 Scott H. Young on How to Build Mastery in Anything The ContraMinds Podcast

Build Mastery Through Deliberate Practice and Varied Experiences

To build true mastery in any skill or profession, it's crucial to engage in deliberate practice focused on continual improvement, not just mindless repetition that leads to automaticity. Expose yourself to varied practice scenarios and different contexts to develop deeper flexibility and understanding. Early in your career, prioritize breadth over narrow specialization by seeking out diverse, challenging experiences across multiple domains. This varied background better equips you to adapt as industries and opportunities evolve over time.



Cultivate a Mastery Mindset with Lifelong Learning

Approaching any endeavor with a "mastery mindset" centered on lifelong learning, not just surface-level performance goals, is key to achieving excellence. Realize that simply accumulating years of experience often plateaus your growth; you must make efforts to deliberately improve through practice, feedback, and learning from others at the cutting edge. Maintain a spirit of curiosity, embrace arduous projects that excite you, and take full ownership over charting your own path to mastery. With sustained dedication, the potential exists for anyone to acquire remarkable skills in their chosen pursuit.



About The Guest

Scott H. Young is an author, programmer, and an entrepreneur. Scott's work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC, TEDx, Pocket, and Business Insider. He is also the author of the Wall Street best -selling book, Ultra Learning. Scott's new book.



Get Better at Anything is out in the stands now. In this new book, Scott explore the science of skill acquisition, illustrating the core principles that can help you get better at the things that matter most to you.



Timestamps

05:04 - 09:12 What got Scott Interested in Mastery

09:13 - 11:38 Mastery vs Excellence

11:38 - 16:17 Mastery Motivations vs Performance Motivations

16:18 - 22:40 How To Build Mastery in Anything That You Do

22:41 - 28:58 The Process of Seeing, Doing and Taking Feedback

28:59 - 32:43 Apprenticeship Helps You Build Mastery

32:44 - 39:09 Defining Your Profession To Define Your Mastery

39:10 - 43:46 Variability Over Repetition

43:47 - 49:17 How Will AI Aid Mastery?

49:18 - 55:46 The Need For Mastery in Craft

55:47 - 56:45 What is Success?

56:46 - 58:42 Advice for an 18-year Old at University

58:43 - 01:00:21 Best Advice Scott Ever Received

01:00:22 - 01:01:54 Scott's Dream Dinner Guests

01:01:55 - 01:02:46 What Scott Believes That Others Don’t



For Selected Links, Show Notes and more insights⁠



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