“The key is not the will to win. Everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” – Bobby Knight *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 6, A Goal and a Plan “You need to have a specific ultimate goal. Let’s say you want to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming in the 200-meter freestyle. You have a specific ultimate goal, which is a good start because you know your final destination. When I was in graduate school in biology at UCLA one of my classes was a graduate seminar consisting of three students and two professors (George…

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 9, Persistence, Motivation, and More About Your Path “Keep practicing no matter what. It will take years, you know this, so you have to keep practicing. You have to keep practicing getting better every time you practice. This is a very hard thing to do. You will get tired, bored, and frustrated. It is hard to keep your focus while practicing. I heard a story about John Wooden (often considered one of the greatest college basketball coaches, ever) while I was a student at UCLA. During practice one…

“Never stop practicing to get better.” – Glenn K. Seki *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 8, Deliberate Practice and Learning This is the goal of performing deliberate practice, the 10,000 hours, to automate procedures and classifications. To get there you need the concepts, processes, principles, and productions. Remember, you must automate the productions correctly. If you automate them incorrectly it will take a lot of work and time to un-automated it. How do you practice? What do you practice? That depends on what domain and what production you are trying to automate. This is another reason why you need a coach. Your coach…

“Experts were once amateurs who kept practicing.” – Amit Kalantri *** 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 sport and has fun with it. He reaches a certain level…

“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.” – Bill McCartney *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 7, A Coach and Coaching “You really need to have a coach/mentor/teacher/etc. A coach can be a parent, relative, friend, teacher, someone you hire, etc. Tiger Wood’s father introduced him to golf, Venus and Serena Williams’ father introduced them to tennis and coached them in their early years. You can have multiple coaches concurrently and consecutively. Your coaches should have a higher expertise level than you do, although they don’t have to. A friend may help motivate you to keep practicing when you…

“The top experts in the world are ardent students. The day you stop learning, you’re definitely not an expert.” – Brendon Burchard *** 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 effect relationships), and productions (procedures/classifications).” ***…

“Follow your own passion – not your parents’, not your teachers’ – yours.” – Robert Ballard *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 1, Passion and Interest “What is your passion? What are you passionate about? Are you passionate about a sport, say basketball, or surfing? Tennis anyone? How about art, or music. Perhaps you’re zeroed in on an academic field such as biology, or economics. Maybe you have a passion for exploring, with an eye on the Himalayas. Don’t have a passion, then what are you interested in? Interest and achievement go hand in hand. It is easier to achieve in a domain if…

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin *** 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 effect relationships), and productions (procedures/classifications).” *** Concepts “Here’s a common example of a concept: a chair. You…

“Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” – W. Clement Stone *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Chapter 9, Persistence, Motivation, and More About Your Path “Keep practicing no matter what. It will take years, you know this, so you have to keep practicing. You have to keep practicing getting better every time you practice. This is a very hard thing to do. You will get tired, bored, and frustrated. It is hard to keep your focus while practicing. I heard a story about John Wooden (often considered one of the greatest college basketball coaches, ever) while I was a…

“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.” – John Wooden *** An excerpt from How To Become The Best at Anything, Introduction What the Book is About This book is for anyone who wants to get really good at something or even become one of the best at anything. It’s about how to develop expertise in any area or domain: the conditions that have to be met, the steps you have to take, the things you have to do, and what to expect on your path to becoming an expert.…