“Most people get excited about games, but I’ve got to be excited about practice, because that’s my classroom.” – Pat Summitt *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 8, Deliberate Practice and Learning “To become the best takes practice, lots and lots of practice. I have mentioned the 10,000-hour rule. It takes about 10,000 hours of practice to get really good at something and not just any type of practice, but deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is practicing to get better. The classic example is a man who has gone golfing almost every weekend for the past twenty years. He has a great interest in the…

“The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity.” – Josh Waitzkin *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 8, Deliberate Practice and Learning Learning When you are trying to learn something new or you are teaching someone something new, it can be a very daunting task. It is difficult because learning something new is not easy, but it can be made easier if you understand how learning works. Learning can be divided into four basic parts: concepts (definitions and examples), processes (how it works sequences), principles (cause and…

“I revived the passion I always felt when I started playing again.” – Vera Jiji Vera Jiji’s beloved cello, tucked away in the back of her closet, remained untouched, almost forgotten, for over 40 years. It’s been like a second life for her. *** From the The New York Times “It’s Never Too Late” is a new series that tells the stories of people who decide to pursue their dreams on their own terms. By Alix Strauss, The New York Times In 1940, at age 12, Vera Jiji found her first passion: the cello. She learned to love playing the orchestra instrument at the High School of Music & Art…

“I’ve always considered myself to be just average talent and what I have is a ridiculous insane obsessiveness for practice and preparation.” – Will Smith *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 8, Deliberate Practice and Learning “To become the best takes practice, lots and lots of practice. I have mentioned the 10,000-hour rule. It takes about 10,000 hours of practice to get really good at something and not just any type of practice, but deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is practicing to get better. The classic example is a man who has gone golfing almost every weekend for the past twenty years. He has a…