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1-Page Summary of The Little Book of Talent
Overview
Many people wish they were talented in some way. In fact, many believe that talent is genetic and can’t be developed. Fortunately, there’s a new idea emerging about this issue: Talent can be developed by taking the right actions and having the correct mind-set. Here are the steps you need to take in order to achieve these things and become highly talented in any area you choose.
In this article, you’ll learn what skills are necessary for effective practice; how to elevate your session’s quality and performance; and the benefits of visualization.
Big Idea #1: Find role models to emulate and mentally engrave the desired skill in your mind.
Talent is something that we all know when we see it. We are in awe of dancers who can defy gravity and athletes at the top of their game. In our daily lives, exceptional skill gives us pause as well, such as a mind-blowing meal at a restaurant or an amazing presentation by someone. Many people assume that talent is just natural gift but this isn’t true. Talent has more to do with actions than what we inherit from nature. With the right approach, anyone can develop skills like those they admire. The first step is to identify role models and imagine yourself doing what they do in your mind’s eye until you feel confident about achieving that goal on your own without them there for support anymore.
Talent incubators have benefited from the phenomenon that follows talented people. For example, an initial success by Se Ri Pak inspired hundreds of Korean women to start playing golf in South Korea and join the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. In four years, over 40 Koreans played on it and won about a third of all events on it.
Even the smallest connection can light a spark. For instance, discovering that we share a birthday with a mathematician can increase our effort in math by about 60%. So, if we want to become great at something, we should find role models among the best in that field. We will kickstart our motivation by flooding our brains with images of them and imagine ourselves doing what they do. While focusing on those images, pay close attention to exactly how they do it. This is the next step in mastering a skill.
By studying and emulating the skills of others, we can improve our own performance. This is true for physical skills as well as intellectual pursuits. For example, chess players watch videos of other games to learn strategy. We should do this too if we want to master a skill.
Big Idea #2: Hard skills are the foundation of any talent; develop them well and never stop practicing.
There’s an old saying that goes like this: a house built on shaky ground will likely fall. It might look good and have all the best finishes, but it still won’t be stable if its foundation is weak. The same thing can happen in business with talent management. We need to make sure we’re hiring people who have both hard skills (like accuracy) and soft skills (like teamwork).
For example, a violinist needs to be able to play certain notes on the violin. This is a hard skill. However, interpreting music with emotion is soft and can vary from player to player. It doesn’t matter as much if the notes are off-key when someone has an emotional interpretation of them.
The key point here is that, in order to master a talent, you must develop the hard skills. Practice them well and keep practicing them so your brain can form the right connections from the beginning. The more you practice, the stronger these connections will become. If they’re wrong, it’ll take a lot of work to correct later on.
