# Peak  ## Metadata - Author: [[Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool]] - Full Title: Peak - Category: #books ## Highlights - Mozart was indeed born with a gift, and it was the same gift that the children in Sakakibara’s study were born with. They were all endowed with a brain so flexible and adaptable that it could, with the right sort of training, develop a capability that seems quite magical to those of us who do not possess it. ([Location 121](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=121)) - adaptability makes it possible for adults, even older adults, to develop a wide variety of new capabilities with the right training. ([Location 145](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=145)) - through dedicated training that ([Location 148](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=148)) - the main gift that these people have is the same one we all have—the adaptability of the human brain and body, which they have taken advantage of more than the rest of us. ([Location 154](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=154)) - no such thing as a predefined ability. ([Location 180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=180)) - potential is an expandable vessel, shaped by the various things we do throughout our lives. ([Location 183](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=183)) - Learning isn’t a way of reaching one’s potential but rather a way of developing it. ([Location 184](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=184)) - The right sort of practice carried out over a sufficient period of time leads to improvement. Nothing else. ([Location 194](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=194)) - “deliberate practice.” ([Location 204](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=204)) - specific advice about putting deliberate practice to work ([Location 222](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=222)) - the brain has strict limits on how many items it can hold in short-term memory at once. ([Location 254](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=254)) - the most effective types of practice all follow the same set of general principles. ([Location 355](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=355)) - all truly effective practice techniques work in essentially the same way. ([Location 362](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=362)) - We all follow pretty much the same pattern with any skill we learn, from baking a pie to writing a descriptive paragraph. ([Location 400](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=400)) - the additional years of “practice” don’t lead to improvement. ([Location 412](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=412)) - “naive practice,” ([Location 426](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=426)) - Purposeful practice has well-defined, specific goals. ([Location 444](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=444)) - very competitive, even if he was only competing with himself, ([Location 449](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=449)) - Break it down and make a plan: ([Location 452](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=452)) - The key thing is to take that general goal—get better—and turn it into something specific that you can work on with a realistic expectation of improvement. ([Location 456](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=456)) - Purposeful practice is focused. ([Location 458](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=458)) - You seldom improve much without giving the task your full attention. ([Location 472](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=472)) - Purposeful practice involves feedback. ([Location 473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=473)) - you need feedback ([Location 482](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=482)) - Purposeful practice requires getting out of one’s comfort zone. ([Location 483](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=483)) - If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve. ([Location 490](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=490)) - Finding ways around these barriers is one of the hidden keys to purposeful practice. ([Location 513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=513)) - Generally the solution is not “try harder” but rather “try differently.” ([Location 513](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=513)) - The best way to get past any barrier is to come at it from a different direction, ([Location 522](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=522)) - Maintaining the focus and the effort required by purposeful practice is hard work, and it is generally not fun. ([Location 544](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=544)) - purposeful practice in a nutshell: Get outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress. Oh, and figure out a way to maintain your motivation. ([Location 561](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=561)) - deliberate practice, ([Location 610](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=610)) - no easy way to observe the resulting changes in your brain as it adapts to the increasing demands being placed on it. ([Location 618](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=618)) - subjects were asked to spot a small image against a background that was very similar in shade to the spot; ([Location 767](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=767)) - The human body has a preference for stability. ([Location 782](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=782)) - “homeostasis,” which simply refers to the tendency of a system—any sort of system, but most often a living creature or some part of a living creature—to act in a way that maintains its own stability. ([Location 786](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=786)) - As long as the physical exercise is not so strenuous that it strains the body’s homeostatic mechanisms, the exercise will do very little to prompt physical changes in the body. ([Location 798](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=798)) - when a body system—certain ([Location 816](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=816)) - is stressed to the point that homeostasis can no longer be maintained, the body responds with changes that are intended to reestablish homeostasis. ([Location 816](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=816)) - So to keep the changes happening, you have to keep upping the ante: run farther, run faster, run uphill. ([Location 825](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=825)) - The brain, like the body, changes most quickly in that sweet spot where it is pushed outside—but not too far outside—its comfort zone. ([Location 842](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=842)) - musical training modifies the structure and function of the brain in various ways that result in an increased capacity for playing music. ([Location 873](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=873)) - long-term training results in changes in those parts of the brain that are relevant to the particular skill being developed. ([Location 877](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=877)) - practice produces brain changes. ([Location 894](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=894)) - Regular training leads to changes in the parts of the brain that are challenged by the training. ([Location 897](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=897)) - First, the effects of training on the brain can vary with age in several ways. ([Location 900](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=900)) - A second detail worth noting is that developing certain parts of the brain through prolonged training can come at a cost: ([Location 911](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=911)) - Finally, the cognitive and physical changes caused by training require upkeep. ([Location 921](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=921)) - Stop training, and they start to go away. ([Location 922](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=922)) - They live in the ([Location 941](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=941)) - world of “good enough.” ([Location 941](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=941)) - If you wish to become significantly better at something, you can. ([Location 946](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=946)) - What is the best way to challenge homeostasis and develop that potential? ([Location 954](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=954)) - are they actually remembering patterns, ([Location 1036](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1036)) - preexisting “mental representations.” ([Location 1051](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1051)) - their memory is very context-dependent: ([Location 1052](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1052)) - Bill Chase and Herb Simon called these patterns “chunks,” ([Location 1059](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1059)) - the mental representations are more than just ways of encoding positions. ([Location 1075](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1075)) - the mental representations give masters a view of the forest that novices lack, they also allow masters to zero in on the trees when necessary. ([Location 1084](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1084)) - A mental representation is a mental structure that corresponds to an object, ([Location 1086](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1086)) - Much of deliberate practice involves developing ever more efficient mental representations that you can use in whatever activity you are practicing. ([Location 1099](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1099)) - without the mental representations necessary to produce and control the body’s movements correctly, the physical changes would be of no use. ([Location 1107](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1107)) - A key fact about such mental representations is that they are very “domain specific,” that is, they apply only to the skill for which they were developed. ([Location 1108](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1108)) - there is no such thing as developing a general skill. ([Location 1113](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1113)) - these representations are preexisting patterns of information—facts, ([Location 1118](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1118)) - years of practice have changed the neural circuitry in their brains to produce highly specialized mental representations, ([Location 1150](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1150)) - develop a good mental representation of the concept mental representation. ([Location 1153](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1153)) - better mental representations lead to better performance. ([Location 1194](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1194)) - The more you study a subject, the more detailed your mental representations of it become, ([Location 1220](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1220)) - deliberate practice ([Location 1224](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1224)) - the better the representation, the more effective the planning. ([Location 1296](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1296)) - representations people use when writing, ([Location 1307](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1307)) - This approach to writing has been called “knowledge telling” ([Location 1315](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1315)) - we gradually honed our mental representation of the book ([Location 1324](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1324)) - the role of mental representations held the key to how we wanted to present deliberate practice. ([Location 1337](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1337)) - The main purpose of deliberate practice is to develop effective mental representations, ([Location 1339](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1339)) - The key change that occurs in our adaptable brains in response to deliberate practice is the development of better mental representations, ([Location 1341](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1341)) - Researchers refer to this sort of writing as “knowledge transforming,” as opposed to “knowledge telling,” because the process of writing changes and adds to the knowledge that the writer had when starting out. ([Location 1345](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1345)) - expert performers use mental representations to improve their performance: they monitor and evaluate their performance, and, when necessary, they modify their mental representations in order to make them more effective. ([Location 1347](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1347)) - mental representations aren’t just the result of learning a skill; they can also help us learn. ([Location 1357](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1357)) - The saxophone player had a clear mental representation of the piece that allowed him to recognize most of his mistakes, remember them the next time, and correct them. ([Location 1380](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1380)) - relationship between skill and mental representations is a virtuous circle: ([Location 1402](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1402)) - it is still important to train the body to move in particularly efficient ways. ([Location 1443](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1443)) - the performers with the best mental representations will have an advantage over the rest. ([Location 1446](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1446)) - You work up to a double axel bit by bit, assembling the mental representations as you go. ([Location 1450](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1450)) - nobody develops extraordinary abilities without putting in tremendous ([Location 1638](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1638)) - amounts of practice. ([Location 1638](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1638)) - even centuries of steady improvement, ([Location 1647](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1647)) - Note: Example of time binding. - improvement in performance generally has gone hand in hand with the development of teaching methods, ([Location 1653](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1653)) - these practice activities that my colleagues and I defined as “deliberate practice.” ([Location 1657](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1657)) - deliberate practice is different from other sorts of purposeful practice ([Location 1658](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1658)) - Second, deliberate practice requires a teacher who can provide practice activities designed to help a student improve his or her performance. ([Location 1665](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1665)) - practice that is both purposeful and informed. ([Location 1669](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1669)) - Deliberate practice is purposeful practice that knows where it is going and how to get there. ([Location 1670](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1670)) - deliberate practice is characterized by the following traits: ([Location 1671](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1671)) - Deliberate practice is deliberate, that is, it requires a person’s full attention and conscious actions. ([Location 1680](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1680)) - self-monitoring requires effective mental representations. ([Location 1685](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1685)) - Deliberate practice both produces and depends on effective mental representations. ([Location 1685](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1685)) - Deliberate practice nearly always involves building or modifying previously acquired skills ([Location 1689](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1689)) - it is important for teachers to provide beginners with the correct fundamental skills ([Location 1691](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1691)) - even if your field is one in which deliberate practice in the strictest sense is not possible, you can still use the principles of deliberate practice as a guide to developing the most effective sort of practice possible in your area. ([Location 1698](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1698)) - the basic blueprint for getting better in any pursuit: get as close to deliberate practice as you can. ([Location 1730](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1730)) - this often boils down to purposeful practice with a few extra steps: ([Location 1731](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1731)) - subjective judgments are inherently vulnerable to all sorts of biases. ([Location 1741](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1741)) - his influential book House of Cards: Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth, the psychologist Robyn Dawes described research showing that licensed psychiatrists and psychologists were no more effective at performing therapy than laypeople who had received minimal training. ([Location 1764](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1764)) - experience doesn’t lead to improved performance ([Location 1770](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1770)) - be careful when identifying expert performers. ([Location 1771](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1771)) - If no such measures exist, get as close as you can. ([Location 1772](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1772)) - it may not be obvious, even to experts, exactly what differentiates the best performers from everyone else. ([Location 1788](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1788)) - Part of the problem is the key role that mental representations play. ([Location 1789](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1789)) - Once you have identified an expert, identify what this person does differently from others that could explain the superior performance. ([Location 1807](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1807)) - If you find that something works, keep doing it; if it doesn’t work, stop. ([Location 1810](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1810)) - A good math teacher, for instance, will look at more than the answer to a problem; he’ll look at exactly how the student got the answer as a way of understanding the mental representations the student was using. ([Location 1821](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1821)) - this rule—which is the only thing that many people today know about the effects of practice—is wrong in several ways. ([Location 1836](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1836)) - First, ([Location 1838](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1838)) - the number varies from field to field. ([Location 1844](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1844)) - Second, ([Location 1846](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1846)) - Third, ([Location 1849](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1849)) - performing isn’t the same thing as practice. ([Location 1854](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1854)) - final problem ([Location 1868](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1868)) - becoming accomplished in any field in which there is a well-established history of people working to become experts requires a tremendous amount of effort exerted over many years. ([Location 1876](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1876)) - Authors and poets have usually been writing for more than a decade before they produce their best work, ([Location 1879](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1879)) - people have a tremendous capacity to improve their performance, as long as they train in the right way. ([Location 1891](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1891)) - We know now from studies of deliberate practice that the pilots learned best when they were pushed out of their comfort zones. ([Location 1970](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1970)) - three prevailing myths. ([Location 1992](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1992)) - first ([Location 1993](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=1993)) - mindset matters. ([Location 2000](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2000)) - second ([Location 2000](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2000)) - third ([Location 2002](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2002)) - “learning while real work gets done.” ([Location 2010](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2010)) - Eventually, practicing becomes just a normal part of the business day. ([Location 2033](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2033)) - look for one that follows the principles of deliberate practice: ([Location 2038](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2038)) - difficulty in getting effective feedback ([Location 2055](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2055)) - type of feedback-driven practice that leads to improvement, ([Location 2060](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2060)) - It would be, in short, deliberate practice. ([Location 2083](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2083)) - training with immediate feedback—either from a mentor or even a carefully designed computer program—can be an incredibly powerful way to improve performance. ([Location 2097](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2097)) - learn more about the role that mental representations ([Location 2100](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2100)) - best radiologists have indeed developed more accurate mental representations. ([Location 2103](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2103)) - designed practice. ([Location 2115](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2115)) - emphasis on doing. ([Location 2138](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2138)) - Deliberate practice, by contrast, focuses solely on performance and how to improve it. ([Location 2143](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2143)) - you find a tendency to focus on knowledge at the expense of skills. ([Location 2151](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2151)) - set aside the intense training that characterized the original learning ([Location 2164](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2164)) - period. ([Location 2165](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2165)) - Only two of sixty-two studies had found doctors to have gotten better with experience. ([Location 2173](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2173)) - neither doctors nor nurses gain expertise from experience alone. ([Location 2180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2180)) - Davis concluded that this sort of passive listening to lectures had no significant effect at all on either doctors’ performance or on how well their patients fared. ([Location 2201](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2201)) - attending lectures, minicourses, and the like offers little or no feedback and little or no chance to try something new, make mistakes, correct the mistakes, and gradually develop a new skill. ([Location 2210](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2210)) - It is not just the medical profession that has traditionally emphasized knowledge over skills in its education. ([Location 2234](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2234)) - training should focus on doing rather than on knowing—and, ([Location 2247](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2247)) - “adaptive thinking” ([Location 2320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2320)) - “I wanted to prove that anything’s possible if you’re willing to put in the time.” ([Location 2363](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2363)) - Deliberate practice is for everyone who dreams. ([Location 2366](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2366)) - one of the main purposes of deliberate practice is to develop a set of effective mental representations that can guide your performance, ([Location 2387](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2387)) - Many accomplished performers are terrible teachers because they have no idea how to teach. ([Location 2401](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2401)) - one of the most important things a teacher can do is to help you develop your own mental representations ([Location 2414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2414)) - importance of engaging in purposeful practice instead of mindless repetition without any clear plan for getting better. ([Location 2428](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2428)) - whatever you are doing, focus on it. ([Location 2445](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2445)) - understand what ([Location 2447](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2447)) - it meant to engage in purposeful practice rather than just practice. ([Location 2447](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2447)) - Maintaining this sort of focus is hard work, ([Location 2479](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2479)) - People who are just learning to focus on their practice won’t be able to maintain it for several hours. ([Location 2481](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2481)) - shorter training sessions with clearer goals are the best way to develop new skills faster. ([Location 2484](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2484)) - it is still possible to improve if you follow some basic principles from deliberate practice—many ([Location 2524](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2524)) - The hallmark of purposeful or deliberate practice is that you try to do something you cannot do—that ([Location 2525](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2525)) - we must manufacture our own opportunities. ([Location 2528](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2528)) - what if your skill requires a partner or an audience? ([Location 2538](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2538)) - watch the same English movies with subtitles over and over again, ([Location 2543](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2543)) - Note: ...or reading the same book over and over. - To effectively practice a skill without a teacher, it helps to keep in mind three Fs: Focus. Feedback. Fix it. ([Location 2561](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2561)) - aspiring artists have long developed their skills by copying the paintings and sculptures of the masters. ([Location 2577](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2577)) - Successful mental representations are inextricably tied to actions, ([Location 2585](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2585)) - First, ([Location 2643](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2643)) - Then ([Location 2644](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2644)) - Once you’ve figured out what the problem is, ([Location 2645](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2645)) - targets those specific problem areas that are holding you back rather than trying this and that and hoping that something works. ([Location 2647](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2647)) - time they spent in purposeful practice correlated more closely with how well they did in the spelling bee. ([Location 2659](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2659)) - what drove the very best spellers to put in so much more time than the others? ([Location 2663](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2663)) - How do you keep going? That is perhaps the biggest question that anyone engaged in purposeful or deliberate practice will eventually face. ([Location 2668](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2668)) - Note: More aptly, how do you set your goals your primary preference? - purposeful practice is hard work. ([Location 2675](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2675)) - make deliberate practice an ongoing part of their lives. ([Location 2681](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2681)) - First, there is little scientific evidence for the existence of a general “willpower” that can be applied in any situation. ([Location 2684](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2684)) - Both willpower and natural talent are traits that people assign to someone after the fact: ([Location 2693](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2693)) - Motivation is quite different from willpower. ([Location 2703](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2703)) - What factors shape motivation? ([Location 2704](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2704)) - reasons to keep going and reasons to stop. ([Location 2713](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2713)) - There are various ways to weaken the reasons to quit. One of the most effective is to set aside a fixed time to practice that has been cleared of all other obligations and distractions. ([Location 2716](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2716)) - the best students were much better at estimating how much time they spent on leisure, ([Location 2725](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2725)) - Good planning can help you avoid many of the things that might lead you to spend less time on practice than you wanted. ([Location 2726](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2726)) - first is general physical maintenance: ([Location 2734](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2734)) - second thing is to limit the length of your practice sessions to about an hour. ([Location 2737](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2737)) - the skill itself can become part of your motivation. ([Location 2754](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2754)) - Another key motivational factor in deliberate practice is a belief that you can succeed. ([Location 2757](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2757)) - parents would use various strategies to keep them from quitting. ([Location 2769](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2769)) - Belief is important. ([Location 2774](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2774)) - put together a group of people all interested in the same thing—or ([Location 2818](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2818)) - make sure that the other members of the group have similar goals for improvement. ([Location 2821](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2821)) - deliberate practice is a lonely pursuit. ([Location 2826](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2826)) - How do you maintain motivation for hour after hour of such focused practice? ([Location 2827](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2827)) - Break your long journey into a manageable series of goals and focus on them one at a time—perhaps even giving yourself a small reward each time you reach a goal. ([Location 2829](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2829)) - he would play his first full round of golf with a complete set of clubs in December 2011, more than a year and a half after he had started, and by this time he was recording his progress in several different ways. ([Location 2844](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2844)) - that she became interested in the only way that a child of that age (she was three at the time) could become interested: she saw the chess pieces as fun. ([Location 2930](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2930)) - first stage, children are introduced in a playful way to what will eventually become their field of interest. ([Location 2941](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2941)) - Simply by interacting strongly with their children, parents motivate their children to develop similar interests. ([Location 2962](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=2962)) - people can train effectively well into their eighties. Much of the age-related deterioration in various skills happens because people decrease or stop their training; ([Location 3090](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3090)) - a two-year-old child has about 50 percent more synapses than an adult. ([Location 3137](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3137)) - a six-year-old’s brain learns differently than a fourteen-year-old’s brain, which learns differently than an adult brain—even if all of them are learning the same thing. ([Location 3139](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3139)) - First, ([Location 3153](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3153)) - second, ([Location 3154](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3154)) - the “colors” of different notes and ([Location 3191](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3191)) - Those experts who are at the very boundary of their professions—the best mathematicians, the top-ranked grandmasters in the world, the golfers who win major tournaments, the international touring violinists—didn’t achieve their heights just by imitating their teachers. ([Location 3230](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3230)) - The most important lesson they gleaned from their teachers is the ability to improve on their own. ([Location 3233](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3233)) - they explore various approaches to find one that works. ([Location 3242](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3242)) - There are no big leaps, ([Location 3244](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3244)) - Note: Not really. Small lips or sometimes really big leaps. - The creative, the restless, and the driven are not content with the status quo, and they look for ways to move forward, to do things that others have not. ([Location 3261](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3261)) - Various sorts of practice can be effective, but the most effective of all is deliberate practice. ([Location 3271](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3271)) - detailed mental representations, ([Location 3273](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3273)) - let’s separate myth from reality by exploring the intertwined roles of talent and training in the development of extraordinary abilities. ([Location 3282](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3282)) - The first serious compositions that we can attribute to Wolfgang Mozart with certainty were written when he was fifteen or sixteen—after more than a decade of serious practice under his father’s tutelage. ([Location 3370](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3370)) - my decades of research in the area of expertise have convinced me that there is no magic. ([Location 3416](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3416)) - extraordinary abilities are the product of much practice and training. ([Location 3503](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3503)) - pretty much any child can learn math if it is taught in the right way. ([Location 3531](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3531)) - Jump Math, ([Location 3532](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3532)) - People do not stop learning and improving because they have reached some innate limits on their performance; they stop learning and improving because, for whatever reasons, they stopped practicing—or never started. ([Location 3541](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3541)) - no clear relationship between IQ and how good a particular player was. ([Location 3589](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3589)) - higher intelligence is ([Location 3593](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3593)) - practice is the key factor in success, ([Location 3622](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3622)) - the abilities measured by IQ tests are far less important than the mental representations one has developed through practice. ([Location 3655](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3655)) - In the long run it is the ones who practice more who prevail, not the ones who had some initial advantage in intelligence or some other talent. ([Location 3663](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3663)) - innate characteristics—IQ, in the case of the chess study—may have an advantage when first ([Location 3667](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3667)) - eventually the amount and the quality of practice take on a much larger role in determining how skilled a person becomes. ([Location 3668](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3668)) - no one has ever managed to figure out how to identify people with “innate talent.” ([Location 3716](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3716)) - I believe that it’s much more important to understand how and why particular types of practice lead to improvement than it is to go looking for genetic differences between people. ([Location 3745](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3745)) - we have lost a whole collection of children who might eventually have become quite accomplished in these areas if only they hadn’t been labeled as “no good at math” in the very beginning. ([Location 3792](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3792)) - recognize the potential in all of us—and work to find ways to develop it. ([Location 3798](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3798)) - The students who were taught the material with a method inspired by the principles of deliberate practice learned more than twice as much as those students taught with the traditional approach. ([Location 3803](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3803)) - In the deliberate-practice class the goal was not to feed information to the students but rather to get them to practice thinking like physicists. ([Location 3833](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3833)) - The students in the Deslauriers class were getting immediate feedback ([Location 3848](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3848)) - on their understanding of the various concepts, with both fellow students and the instructors helping clear up any confusion. ([Location 3848](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3848)) - full-time athletes and their coaches how many of them have never taken the time to identify those aspects of performance that they would like to improve and then design training methods aimed specifically at those things. ([Location 3873](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3873)) - mental representations that successful athletes use. ([Location 3876](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3876)) - design training tasks to improve their representations ([Location 3878](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3878)) - great potential for improvement by focusing on individualized training and the assessment of the athletes’ mental representations. ([Location 3895](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3895)) - emphasis placed on skills versus knowledge—what ([Location 3908](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3908)) - individual pieces become part of an interconnected pattern that provides context and meaning to the information, ([Location 3915](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3915)) - you don’t build mental representations by thinking about something; you build them by trying to do something, failing, revising, and trying again, over and over. ([Location 3916](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3916)) - determining what a student should be able to do is far more effective than determining what that student should know. ([Location 3919](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3919)) - focus on understanding the necessary mental representations at each step of the way ([Location 3924](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3924)) - students are far behind the experts in their ability to solve qualitative problems, ([Location 3932](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3932)) - understanding of the concepts that underlie particular events or processes—that ([Location 3934](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3934)) - The objectives should be skills, not knowledge. ([Location 3956](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3956)) - The best way to help students develop their skills and mental representations in an area is to give them models they can replicate and learn from, ([Location 3980](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3980)) - They need to try and fail—but with ready access to models that show what success looks like. ([Location 3981](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3981)) - deliberate practice can revolutionize our thinking about human potential. ([Location 3991](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3991)) - In most fields we still don’t know exactly what distinguishes experts from everyone else. ([Location 3996](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=3996)) - those experts whose skills relate to some sort of performance—the musicians, dancers, gymnasts, and so forth—report getting great pleasure from performing in public. ([Location 4015](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4015)) - A world in which deliberate practice is a normal part of life would be one in which people had more volition and satisfaction. ([Location 4021](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4021)) - Homo sapiens. ([Location 4025](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4025)) - “knowing man” ([Location 4027](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4027)) - perhaps a better way to see ourselves would be as Homo exercens, or “practicing man,” ([Location 4028](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4028)) - In the future most people will have no choice but to continuously learn new skills, ([Location 4036](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4036)) - based on the principles of deliberate practice and aimed at creating more effective mental ([Location 4040](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4040)) - representations—that not only will help them improve the skills they use in their current jobs but that will enable them to develop new skills for new jobs. ([Location 4041](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B011H56MKS&location=4041))