Good afternoon, GKN-keteers! Ready to go on a magical adventure filled with whimsy and delight? No? How about putting up with yet another feeble attempt at profundity? Yes? Off we go!!!
I recently started reading a book called “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin.
BTW I can’t remember who recommended it to me so please stand up and take a bow! As of this writing, I’m 112 pages in so I can’t make any solid conclusions yet about the message/lessons to be learned. So far, it’s talking about what make a world-class performer (Mozart, Tiger Woods, Warren Buffett, etc) different from everyone else.
Is it intelligence? Not necessarily. Genetics? They’re not sure yet, but many experts don’t think so. Natural talent? They’re not even sure what that is.
So, what is it?
“Deliberate Practice”! Mozart, Woods, and Buffet all had (not gifted) fathers who started mentoring them at a very early age. Those three people practiced longer, harder, and smarter than everybody else. Not more hours in a day; because the human body & mind can only do so much before needing rest, but more hours in a lifetime. Not hard to the point of insanity; they worked within their Learning Zone, not their Panic Zone. And they weren’t smarter than everybody else; they just developed regimens that focused on exactly what they needed to do on a daily basis to improve their “game”.
TIP OF THE WEEK: So, are you a world-class performer? Probably not. Most people aren’t. Neither am I. Matter of fact, I don’t consider myself to be a “gifted” talent or have a particularly “good” voice, whatever that means. So why am I successful? Why are you successful? If you’re not, why not?
Look at your habits. Look at your patterns of behavior as you go about your day. Are they consistent? Deliberate? Thoughtful? The result of a well-crafted plan and dedication to a regimen? Or are they random? Scattershot? Guided by vague goals?
Take one week and write down what you do every day, then step back and objectively look at what you did. I think you’ll find a correlation between your level of Deliberate Practice and your level of success!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Never make fun of a one-legged organist. Emily Grace Edgerton
STUFF!: “The Dark Knight Rises”; please, sit back down. What a disappointment!
From Tom Dheere’s apartment, this is Tom Dheere: GKN News.