Yes. Mastery is satisfying in itself. In a way that money (and facilitated experiences) can never be. Notice how extremely wealthy people often keep working?

Yes. Mastery is satisfying in itself. In a way that money (and facilitated experiences) can never be. Notice how extremely wealthy people often keep working? I tried retirement. It sucks. for PedantNews: mastery remains valuable only if that skill remains in demand (e.g. slide-rule proficiency); at $600 a head, how is he not rich?; the capitalization (and themes) echo Think and Grow Rich (Napoleon Hill); I love sashimi, but, being raw fish, how can it can be improved beyond the quality of the fish (displaying my ignorance)? BTW: the film looks great. http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/ http://www.magpictures.com/jirodreamsofsushi/ I rephrase it: create value - according to what you feel is valuable. This differs from YC's entrepreneurial "make something people want", which emphasizes other's values. It is closer to creating intrinsic beauty/transcendence. And, IMHO, that is what this guy Jiro is doing: creating something great. Not being great. He and his mastery are in service to what he values.