I've refinished my mast twice in 28 years of ownership and, like a lot of boat jobs, it is a series of pretty simple steps.
The first time I used Brightsides, and it looked great for 5 years, OK for 10 years, and then got quickly worse. It handily exceeded my expectations but I wouldn't do it again.
The second time I used Perfection, and am very happy with the result. Perfection (a two-part LP paint) is 15% more of a pain in the neck to apply but probably lasts twice as long, or more. I followed the instructions scrupulously on a mast that had been stripped of all hardware except the mainsail track, with coatings stripped down to bare aluminum. Since the zinc chromate primers are now off the market, I ended up using a barrier coat, two coats of primer, and three coats of Perfection, all by roller. It isn't a mirror finish but it is better than 90% of all the other masts of boats that are more than 10 years old...and mine is 50 years old.
It is not that difficult a job as long as you meticulously label everything that comes off the mast (it's amazing how much stuff there is on there), have the space and basic abrasive tools to do the work, and ARE NOT IN ANY HURRY when it's time to paint. You need to have the flexibility of letting the job go another weekend if it's too windy, hot, cold, or rainy. Also, by the time you get the mast down and all that stuff off, any number of additional "while-you're-at-it" projects arise (LED steaming light, replace masthead sheaves, rewire this/that/all, etc) and you do not want to be in a rush.