My Thoughts On The Quest For Personal Mastery By Srikumar Rao

Last Updated on June 3, 2024 by Kari

I finished The Quest For Personal Mastery by Srikumar Rao and Mindvalley a week ago, which was just before Christmas. The information that Srikumar Rao teaches is so life-changing that I plan on implementing one technique per month next year to practice daily. My goal is to be improved in every way by the end of the year by making what I learned in this quest a huge part of my life. It was that inspiring to me. But, I don’t think this quest is going to be for everyone – at least not at this moment. In this review, I’ll talk about my thoughts on the course, describe some information about how it works, and point out who I think will and won’t benefit from it.

My Thoughts On The Quest For Personal Mastery

What I Think About Srikumar Rao

I don’t normally talk too much about the teacher of a course, but I have to for this review. I found that Srikumar Rao is the reason this quest was so enjoyable and impactful.

Srikumar Rao is a wise man. The Quest For Personal Mastery is all about getting access to his wisdom on being resilient and getting more into the flow of life. He doesn’t describe himself as wise. He admits that he doesn’t have it all together. But, still, it’s obvious that this is the guy you would want to sit down with and talk to when you are trying to overcome something or figure something out.

He has a way of explaining complicated things in an easy-to-understand manner.

Besides the daily quest sessions, there are some Q&A videos that last about an hour each. They are awesome and packed full of questions from students and answers from Srikumar Rao that I found really valuable. I was amazed at how he could answer some deep questions so quickly.

I can’t see Srikumar Rao ever getting stuck for an answer. He reminds me of my grandpa who always had a way of helping me understand something that was perplexing to me.

He uses a lot of stories in his teachings, which makes understanding his lessons even easier. I think his ability to tell a good story that relates so well to the topic is part of what makes him a great teacher.

It’s obvious that he’s read a lot of books, paid attention to what’s going on around him, and gained a ton of wisdom from people he admires. The information he shares in this quest is based on teachings from wise people all over the world.

He uses a lot of fun words that someone else wouldn’t say. As someone who likes words, I enjoyed his ability to find a word to describe something – a word that you would never think of to use.

And he’s genuinely pleasant and likable. Even on those days where everything and everyone seemed to get on my nerves, he wasn’t annoying to me. Actually, since I watched his lessons in the evening, they always helped me see my day in a different light and all that annoyance I was feeling went away.

I can say with complete certainty that out of all the people I’ve learned from, Srikumar Rao is my favorite teacher. He was able to get across his point, and he was easy and fun to listen to. I’ve already decided to get his books and read them as quickly as possible. I’m excited to see what other bits of wisdom he has to teach.

Following is his TED talk done by Srikumar Rao years ago. It will give you a glimpse into how likable he is and how much he has to offer you. This is exactly how he talks in the quest. In fact, he also covers this information in The Quest For Personal Mastery.

You May Put Up Resistance To Some Of The Lessons… And I Think That’s Normal

There may be some resistance that comes up during the quest. For example, hearing that the tragedy you experienced could be a good thing is hard to take depending on what you experienced and how negatively you have painted the picture.

Srikumar Rao will challenge some of your current beliefs in The Quest For Personal Mastery and you may have some resistance – either really big resistance or just some ‘I don’t know about this’ kind of resistance. But, that’s the point of the quest. It’s to help challenge you to see that life may not be what you think.

It’s really deep and interesting stuff to listen to and think about.

I suggest you have someone to talk over those lessons with so you don’t instantly fall back into your own way of looking at things. As with most courses, I did this one with my husband, and we did spend some time going through thoughts we had after each lesson. When one of us had resistance to the lesson, the other one was there to listen and offer alternative ways of thinking. It really helped.

The Lessons May Not Be Understood Right Away

This is deep stuff. Some things you are going to understand and implement right away. Those are things that you’ve been thinking about for a while and already agree with on some level. But, some of the lessons are going to take a little longer to soak in. They are going to take some time to understand, practice, and make a part of your life.

That’s why in the upcoming year, I’m planning on taking 12 things I learned from The Quest For Personal Mastery and focusing on one thing per month.

I want to toss it around in my head, play with it, practice it, and make it a habit – a physical habit or a mental habit – so that it can become a part of my life.

I also want to take this quest again, doing it for the full 45 days in a row. I really believe it’s that important to get these lessons and create a lifestyle where you are in the flow and much more satisfied with life.

The things Srikumar Rao teaches you can help you get unstuck from the worrying or doing nothing stages and help you get up and do what you need to do to get over problems and move towards your goals.

This Quest Is Great For Curing Apathy Towards Life

I think if you’ve been ho-hum about life, The Quest For Personal Mastery is going to be a huge gift for you.

For instance, one of the recommended solutions for getting rid of apathy is transitioning from passivity into problem-solving, and that’s what you will learn to do in the course. You will stop sitting around letting life happen to you. Instead, you will consistently play an active part in your life – going after what you want, overcoming obstacles, and getting what you want.

Also, Srikumar Rao talks about enjoying the process and not focusing on the outcome. So if you don’t enjoy life because you are not where you want to be, and you can’t help but focus on how far you are from where you want to be – or how far you think you are – then this quest can help. It can help you get into the flow right now, stay in it, use it, and get wrapped up in it.

Goals are very important. But, Srikumar Rao makes it clear that it’s more important to enjoy what’s happening today. Goals give you a direction, but you can only spend your time in the process.

Some Things Are Repeated From The Masterclass In The Quest, And That’s A Good Thing

In the Masterclass with Srikumar Rao and Vishen Lakhiani, you learn about ‘Good thing bad thing who knows.’ It’s also talked about in a particular lesson in the quest. But, it’s an important concept. And I’ve found that important concepts need to be repeated over and over again before I learn them.

You can’t just teach me something profound once and expect me to incorporate it into my life. I need exposure to the lesson, both in teaching and in experience, in order to get it.

So, if you hear something in the quest that you heard before, know that it’s only a good thing. These are deep concepts. And, the more you hear ideas like this, the more you think about them. And the more you think about them, the more chance you have of incorporating them into your belief system in some way. And when that happens, I’ve found, life can really change.

The Quest For Personal Mastery Has Helped Me Spot My Limiting Beliefs Quicker

Limiting beliefs are the worst. They hold you back from doing things that you would love to do or need to do. They essentially hold you back from living the life you want. I feel bad for people who let their limiting beliefs dictate their life, and I don’t ever want to do that to myself.

I’ve done a review on Unlimited Abundance, and I feel like that Mindvalley course is the best for tackling limiting beliefs. But, Srikumar Rao taught something that has helped me spot limiting beliefs quicker.

This is what I wrote in my notes on Day 2 for integrating what he taught in my life.

Integrate: When something isn’t working out the way you want, identify what’s missing from your first day in the quest, and then identify your limiting beliefs around that area. Delete, destroy, and uncreate.

That last part (delete, destroy, and uncreate) is a technique from Unlimited Abundance. But the first part, where you recognize that things aren’t working out and then find out what’s missing along with limiting beliefs holding you back, is from this quest, and I only built upon that as I went through the quest on to day 45.

How The Quest For Personal Mastery Is Set Up

Every Mindvalley quest I’ve taken is structured the same way. You watch one short video each day and you have an exercise to do for that day. The Quest For Personal Mastery is no different.

You Spend 45 Days In This Quest And Get A Bonus Day

Most Mindvalley quests are 30 days long, but this one is 45 days. So, it’s about 6 1/2 weeks long.

Each Day’s Video Is Not That Long And Exercises/Tasks Can Be Integrated Into Your Life

The videos each day are not very long. They are only about 5 to 15 minutes long. I found them easy to fit into my daily life.

Each day he talks about the lesson at hand and then gives you an exercise to do.

I found that I spent the most amount of time doing the exercise on day 1 of the quest. I wrote down a lot of stuff during that day. It was similar to the Lifebook quest, where you dig into each area of your life and take a look at what’s missing.

After that, daily tasks were more about reflecting on and practicing the exercises throughout the day in your daily life. Although, there was still some writing to do here and there.

Connect With Others Taking The Quest For Personal Mastery

As with other Mindvalley courses and quests, you can connect with a tribe for this quest.

Many days during the quest you are encouraged to go to the Facebook group and share your thoughts on the lesson.

You don’t have to share, but I would recommend that you go there and read what other people are sharing about the lesson and what they’ve learned. It can help you think about the lesson in a different way and even understand it better.

What This Quest Can Help You Do

The Quest For Personal Mastery can help you do some big things, such as:

• Understand yourself better.
• Get unstuck from beliefs and habits that are holding you back.
• Keep you sane during times of struggle.
• Let go of past issues that you haven’t been able to let go of.
• Feel better about life and your role in it.
• Stop judging things and people as right or wrong and feel more compassion and acceptance towards everything.
• Challenge you and help you expand your awareness around your life and how to make the most of it.
• Understand why you became who you are.
• Overcome obstacles that stand in the way of what you want.
• Help you look at someone you currently dislike differently. (Note: There is a powerful exercise on day 10 that you need to do on the regular. I took the opportunity that day to watch someone on YouTube who has very strong opinions and isn’t afraid to talk about them, and they just happen to have an opinion on a diet that doesn’t correlate with mine. This exercise helped me to chill out, see things from a different point of view, and release anger and frustration with people who bash my point of view with a vengeance.)
• Understand what will make you happiest.
• Be more focused on tasks at hand.
• Get a hold of your mental chatter and stop getting carried away with it in a negative way.
• Be more mindful.

There is so much more this quest can help you do. To sum it up, you will have an easier time in life, feel better about your life and what has happened or is happening, and learn how to make the most of every moment.

Who Will Benefit From This Quest?

Anyone who wants to experience the above things, or even just a few of them, will benefit from this quest.

As long as you are open to new ideas, and you are willing to try out the exercises that he gives you each day, you are going to be impacted positively by this quest.

It’s also important to see how each lesson applies to your life as a whole if you want to benefit from the quest. I say that because there was one woman on the Facebook page was upset that Srikumar Rao talked about work on Day 11 and Day 12 and she was ready to quit. She said that if the rest of the course was aimed at people who work, then she will not be continuing. But she was missing the bigger picture. Those days were focused on taking something bad and making it better, as well as how you impact other people by what you do. While Srikumar Rao directed the lessons towards work, you can easily apply the lessons in all other areas of your life.

Who Won’t Benefit From The Quest?

I would say that someone who is not willing to change his or her mind about anything won’t benefit from this quest. If you strongly believe ‘this is the way the world works’ then you might not buy into the fact that what you think works may not really be the way the world works.

If you are someone who is set in your way so much that you get pissed off when people have different beliefs or try to engage you in deep thinking, this quest may not be for you. It would help you immensely if you are willing to take in the ideas and think about them, but if you are not, it’s just going to make you really mad.

I would also say that if you truly believe that unhappiness is your birthright, it might be hard for you to even listen to some of the ideas.

While I was taking this course, I stopped to talk to one of my neighbors on an afternoon walk. She talked about many negative things in her life that were causing her a lot of pain. Cancer and death in the family, work problems, and neighborhood problems all had her upset and she was feeling really down. I realized while she was talking that this quest could help. It could help her see everything that happened in a different light and help her get unstuck from the past and start looking towards what she can do right now to make herself happier. So, I told her that I was taking a course called The Quest For Personal Mastery and that it might help her get past some of the things she couldn’t let go of. But I realized that she may have a lot of resistance to what Srikumar Rao teaches because, since I’ve known her, she has always held on to painful experiences with a strong belief that she is supposed to be unhappy in life.

The Quest For Personal Mastery Can Help You Feel Better And Create A Better Life

I truly believe that this quest can help you feel better about life and create a better life. I believe it so much that, as I’ve said, I’m focusing on one technique per month for a year so that I can make what he teaches a lifestyle.

This quest, like all the other quests on Mindvalley, starts on a particular date. It would be nice if it would just open up immediately, but it doesn’t. I think their biggest reason for doing this is so that students can start at the same time and interact more effectively with the tribe – just like an offline class where everyone starts together to move at the same pace. So, if you join it now, you won’t be able to actually start it until the start date. You will find that the daily sessions will be closed to you and only open on a day to day basis.

If you are interested in taking this quest, you can learn more about it here,

It is a part of the Mindvalley Membership now. You can read my Mindvalley Membership review here.

If there’s anything you want to know about The Quest For Personal Mastery that I didn’t cover in this review, please feel free to ask in the comments below. I will answer as soon as I can.