Learning From the Monk

My December belonged to Robin Sharma. He had uploaded a series of 89 videos in YouTube titled as Mastery Sessions recently. Once I listened to the first video titled as The Fire Fighter Who Burned Books, I could not stop listening to all videos in the list, within next 20 days.Each episode lasted from four minutes to half an hour. All had the same world class original intensity.My observations as a learner of the concepts, and learning his style of videos are 10.

1.      He used the theme of other books for stories and powerful introductions.For example The Fire Fighter Who Burned Books is a theme/story based on a book with the title Farenheit451 by Ray Bradbury. We can use any impressive book as a theme story, depending upon the suitability. Concepts from his own books like Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, 5AM Club, Leader without Title are used extensively.

2.      Catchy and attention grabbing fiction like titles for videos like ….The Baldman in Big Mercedes,The 7000 Ferraris Philosophy, Fast Fire,What the Romans Know About Greatness

3.      .Out of 89 titles, 26 have numbers in their titles like 6 things, 6 noble truths, 5 ways, top 5, 8 purposes etc. I feel giving the number at title serves as a list of small number of points and makes us feel easy. Another important objective is that once the number is stated, it makes it sound like it is authentic, complete, and comprehensive.

4.      Out of 89 titles, 26 begin with HOW. Many begin with WHY. Titles beginning with How to and Why promise solutions for problems and answers for questions. Mastery Sessions videos do provide solutions and answers.

5.      Mastery Sessions videos cover wide range of topics and contexts like Children, Death,Leadership, Mastery, Productivity, Excellence, Motivation, Spirituality etc. They mysteriously have a common thread of advise to become the best in world in the voice of Robin Sharma. The continuously running theme was clearly Best in World,Mastery, and Service.

6.      Detailed examples of living celebrities and legends are used very effectively. Names like Victoria Beckham,Kanye West appear in title. This provides living individual models of the link between the concepts and results. Similarly stories of recent great personalities like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, St.Teresa of Kolkata, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. helping us connect the concepts and results.

7.      Reading full paragraph from a good book, instead of only a quotation. Giving a quotation from the memory and actally taking a book in hand , opening a page, then reading the paragraph are two totally different experiences for viewers. Reading a paragraph makes the whole scene very serious. The subject taken was about sorrow. Author was Khalil Gibran.Read by Robin Sharma. The audience will get into a trance.

8.      Use of unique abbreviations like GCA, SOP,BIW, 20/20/20, 90/90/1 etc implied a pre existing relationship of viewer with Robin Sharma terminology. I feel this will enhance bondning with the concept and also with the Presenter. It is like using a codeword internal only to the family.

9.      Personal stories are told in a very small measure, without any complaint or blaming. Robin Sharma is not a data man.He is about concepts, habits, practices, and tools. He is about mindset, heart set, health set,soul set. A passing reference is sometimes made to Researchers names.

10.  Robin Sharma is repeatedly telling the importance of service, and his deep love and respect for the audience. He sounds so sincere and his urge to be of help to one and all is clearly conveyed. Every sentence in all the videos is plain, simple, and without distractions. At many places, he repeats the important sentences to reinforce the critical content. I felt that each word is weighed, pronounced in a special way, delivered with accentuating gestures. Mastery Session videos are truly world class, and crafted by the true Master of his craft.

List of video titles in Mastery Sessions:

1.      The fire fighter who burned books

2.      6 Noble truths of winning in business

3.      Leadership lessons from Victoria Beckham

4.      The bald man in a big mercedes

5.      Lessons on sorrow as fuel for Joy

6.      Big lie of positive thinking

7.      How to rule the world

8.      6 things I wish I’d learned at 20

9.      How to produce your masterwork

10.  4 methods superstars use to protect their energy

11.  4 excellent habits to beat distractions

12.  How to be comfortable to be alone

13.  5 ways to rise above hard times

14.  Why kindness is not weakness

15.  Why so few succeed

16.  How you can recover from fall

17.  The alternate orbit of histories heroes (cause , minimalist)

18.  How warriors battleproof elite health

19.  A quick system for a spectacular life

20.  How to fearlessly speak your opinions

21.  The 4 interior empires of history makers

22.  How to be human again

23.  The #1 habit super producers run daily ( 20:20:20)

24.  My top 5 private leadership values

25.  How billionaires set giant goals

26.  How legendary leaders speak

27.  Deep confusion as a victory tool

28.  The real reasons good people fail

29.  What makes a world class company

30.  The traits that make you strange are the gifts that make you special

31.  The 2 message protocol

32.  The 90/90/1 rule

33.  Forest fire

34.  The kanye poster insight

35.  The 7000 feraris philosophy

36.  The 3 I philosophy for extreme leadership

37.  Adventure as a performance fuel

38.  How to pick your social network

39.  A message to our children

40.  Cemetry walking as a life mastery tool

41.  Why to love your haters

42.  How to love life’s great seasons

43.  What rich really means

44.  The four signs of a genius entrepreneur

45.  5 rituals that predict success

46.  Why great leaders are devoted readers

47.  How to stay positive on a bad day

48.  How to build confidence

49.  5 lessons my mentors taught me

50.  How business titans do it

51.  The value of being disliked

52.  8 purposes of being in business

53.  7 key reasons to journal

54.  The 5 mentalities of mastery

55.  How Titans beat irrelavance

56.  How to add 100 years to your life

57.  The small win principle for maximum performance

58.  What is Leadership? How great leaders think

59.  A method to X 100 your productivity

60.  5 maxims for maximum success

61.  How to be productive while travelling

62.  How to stay ultra inspired

63.  The importance of becoming famous

64.  How to take your work from a Job to a craft

65.  How to build a team of Picasos

66.  5 quotes to lift your game

67.  4 tactics to becoming a genius comunicator

68.  How to forgive a human being

69.  The 2 drivers of a remarkable life

70.  What the Romans know about greatness

71.  The secret of massively creative people

72.  The cure for fear

73.  How to never grow old

74.  Leave the cult of average today

75.  How to stop being used

76.  5 things to do before you die

77.  The poer of words

78.  How to grow great kids

79.  How to transform a bad day

80.  The 5 consistancies of game changers

81.  How to shift to doing a job to working a craft

82.  The strangest paradox of leadership

83.  Five powerful tools to overcome pain

84.  Why your words matter

85.  Why I walk in the woods

86.  The true purpose of life

87.  The rules of game changers

88.  How to stay creative

89.  6 big lessons to win at life