Micromastery

Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Unlock Your Potential to Achieve Anything

By: Robert Twigger

Narrated by: Roy McMillan

Want to be a lifelong learner? Think small.

Forget spending 10,000 hours in the pursuit of perfecting just one thing. The true path to success and achievement lies in the pursuit of perfecting lots and lots of small things--for a big payoff.

Combining positive psychology, neuroscience, self-help and more, this delightfully illuminating book encourages us to circumvent all the reasons we "can't" learn and grow (we're too busy, it's too complicated, we're not experts, we didn't start when we were young) -- by tackling small, satisfying skills.

Wish you were a seasoned chef? Learn to make a perfect omelette. Dream of being a racecar driver? Perfect a handbrake turn. Wish you could draw? Make Zen circles your first challenge. These small, doable tasks offer a big payoff -- and motivate us to keep learning and growing, with payoffs that include a boost in optimism, confidence, memory, cognitive skills, and more.

Filled with surprising insights and even a compendium of micromastery skills to try yourself, this engaging and inspiring guide reminds us of the simple joy of learning -- and opens the door to limitless, lifelong achievement, one small step at a time.

Micromasteries presented in the book (with illustrations) include: Learn How to Climb a Rope, Surf Standing Up, Talk for Fifteen Minutes about Any Subject, Bake Artisan Bread, Juggle Four Balls, Learn to Read Japanese in Three Hours, and more.

Critic reviews

"Micromastery is a triumph. I read it with delight, and instantly vowed to put more conviction into the latest thing I'm trying, which is using a plectrum when I play the guitar."
--Philip Pullman

"I couldn't stop telling people about this book. Wise and joyful, it genuinely changed the way I thought about learning - and it left me bursting to put it into action."
--Tim Harford, author of Messy

Great ideas, easily executed, spawning lots more ideas & actions

Between audible.com & print I read close to 100 books a year besides holding down a full-time job which includes lots of teaching opportunities. I keep my eyes open for material that can be personally helpful as well as applicable for my clients. When I especially like an audible.com book, I’ll get a print copy which I can now “Zoom“ through, since I’m already familiar with the audible material. Micromastery was one of my 2-format purchases. I have attempted some of the micro masteries & can see that Mr. Twigger is really onto something. It works. Many decades ago I too cut my teeth on Aikido in Japan, Europe & the US, which added a visceral dimension to my “getting it.“ I have a pretty sensitive BS detector, & mine did not even register a flicker. The more I work with his material & methods, the more lucky I feel to have stumbled onto this work. The first half does a great job of presenting the how to & relevant examples of micro mastery. Then comes a series of sometimes (mostly) interesting examples. Of course they weren’t all for me, but I’m glad I stayed on the path for his essays at the end, especially as he addressed the evocation of different personalities or mindsets to accomplish different things. Simple but brilliant. Turned out to be a great task specific procrastination antidote. The audible.com version was pretty well read, easy to listen to, just wish that Mr. Twigger had been the narrator for the Japanese terms which were only recognizable because I knew the context. In sum, in my opinion, both versions are well worth the time and cost and come highly recommended. Enjoy!