Comments on: The Quiet Strengthening of Willpower http://www.selfishprogramming.com/2009/06/30/the-quiet-strengthening-of-willpower/ - HATE SOMETHING, CHANGE SOMETHING, MAKE SOMETHING BETTER - Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:13:45 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: portiatung http://www.selfishprogramming.com/2009/06/30/the-quiet-strengthening-of-willpower/comment-page-1/#comment-3642 portiatung Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:35:15 +0000 http://www.selfishprogramming.com/?p=3197#comment-3642 Hi Luc, Many thanks for sharing your thoughts on talent in relation to hardwork and practice. It's great encouragement for those with a goal who work hard! - Portia Hi Luc,

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts on talent in relation to hardwork and practice. It’s great encouragement for those with a goal who work hard!

- Portia

]]> By: Luc Reid http://www.selfishprogramming.com/2009/06/30/the-quiet-strengthening-of-willpower/comment-page-1/#comment-3546 Luc Reid Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:34:22 +0000 http://www.selfishprogramming.com/?p=3197#comment-3546 I'm much in agreement with a lot of this post, like the importance of focus and effort. But about talent: actually, there's a very good book out (Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin) that delves into the research over the past couple of decades about talent, and as difficult as it is for anyone who was raised in America to swallow, it isn't inborn: not for running, or chess, or music, or painting, or pretty much anything else. Except for the requirement of a certain minimum level of intelligence, the rest of talent is all about getting in good practice, exactly as you describe when you say "What I would want to know is if it’s twenty years of concentrated learning and experience or if it’s the same year repeated twenty times." If you're pushing yourself every one of those twenty years, you get twenty years of practice and come out with substantially more apparent "talent" than someone who's been doing it for twenty years and coasting. I won't go on at length here about this, although I tackle it somewhat better on my blog: http://www.willpowerengine.com/?p=86 I’m much in agreement with a lot of this post, like the importance of focus and effort. But about talent: actually, there’s a very good book out (Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin) that delves into the research over the past couple of decades about talent, and as difficult as it is for anyone who was raised in America to swallow, it isn’t inborn: not for running, or chess, or music, or painting, or pretty much anything else. Except for the requirement of a certain minimum level of intelligence, the rest of talent is all about getting in good practice, exactly as you describe when you say “What I would want to know is if it’s twenty years of concentrated learning and experience or if it’s the same year repeated twenty times.” If you’re pushing yourself every one of those twenty years, you get twenty years of practice and come out with substantially more apparent “talent” than someone who’s been doing it for twenty years and coasting. I won’t go on at length here about this, although I tackle it somewhat better on my blog: http://www.willpowerengine.com/?p=86

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