The Experiments
Updated June 2026
Mastery in progress, documented in public.
These are the long-term pursuits I am working on right now. Not habit trackers. Not productivity metrics. A live record of the slow, honest process of getting good at difficult things.
Physical
Bouldering
Bouldering became my first serious physical pursuit. Every grade has been earned through consistent climbing, experimentation, failure, and patience.
Current
V7
Updates
Working towards V8.
First V7 achieved.
First V6 achieved.
First V5 achieved roughly three months after beginning.
First V4 achieved.
Completed first V3 approximately four weeks after starting.
First serious climbing session. Managed multiple V2s and got one move away from completing a V3.
Creative
Piano
Learning piano without traditional sheet music became an experiment in learning itself. The journey has been as much about patience and deliberate practice as music.
Current
Fantaisie-Impromptu
Updates
Working towards Chopin Ballade No. 1.
Focused on a variety of shorter and easier pieces including Yiruma works and the Amélie soundtrack.
Learned Clair de Lune.
Spent an entire year learning Fantaisie-Impromptu.
Learned River Flows in You within roughly three months of starting.
Started learning piano.
Physical
Distance Running
Running is the newest experiment. The goal is to build endurance, consistency, and eventually run a sub-23-minute 5k.
Current
27:30 / 5k
Updates
Working towards sub-23.
Current 5k benchmark: 27:30.
Started running consistently.
Intellectual
Great Books
An attempt to work through the Great Books of the Western World and engage directly with foundational texts rather than summaries and interpretations.
Current
2 / 514 Books
Updates
Working through the collection one book at a time.
Read Lysis by Plato.
Read Apology by Plato.
Acquired the complete 60-volume Great Books of the Western World collection.
The Journey
- Started learning piano
- Learned River Flows in You
- Fantaisie-Impromptu completed after a year of study
- Learned Clair de Lune
- Started bouldering
- Multiple V2s completed
- One move away from first V3
- First V3
- First V4
- First V5
- First V6
- First V7
- Acquired Great Books of the Western World collection
- Read Apology
- Read Lysis
- Began distance running
- Public launch of The Mastery Project
- Working towards V8
- Working towards Chopin Ballade No. 1
- Working towards a sub-23 minute 5k
- Working through the Great Books canon
These experiments inform everything else on this site: the essays, the podcast, the thinking.