“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…

“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.” – Jon Bon Jovi *** 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…

Give Correction Without Resentment “A coach is someone who can give correction without resentment.” – John Wooden *** 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…

“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…