How to Be a Master at Anything
In the 1960 summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, despite running on a sprained ankle. She was nicknamed the “Tornado” the fastest woman on earth, and the Black Gazelle.
By all accounts, Wilma Rudolph was a master at track and field. Some called her a “natural athlete.” But if you know Wilma Rudolph’s story, you’ll know the truth is that Wilma wasn’t a born athlete. She was a sickly, crippled child who turned herself into a world-class runner through tremendous determination and discipline.
Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely at 4.5 lbs., the 20th of 22 siblings born into a black family in the South in 1940. She was struck with polio as a very young child, leaving her with a twisted foot and leg. She wore a brace and her family drove her to Nashville regularly for treatments. By the time she was 12 years old, Wilma had also survived scarlet fever, whooping cough, chicken pox, and measles.
Wilma was determined to overcome her physical challenges and become an athlete like her older siblings. Eventually she left the leg braces behind and became a star on her high school basketball team. Wilma was discovered by Tennessee State track coach Ed Temple, the man who prepared her to win Olympic gold in the 100 and 200-meter dash and the 400-meter relay.
What would YOU like to become a master of? If you’re in the work force, you may wish to become a master at your job. If you’re retired, maybe you would like to achieve mastery at a hobby - become a master gardener, or a master fisherman. Or we could apply mastery to people and relationships – becoming the best in the world at being a parent, or a spouse, or a friend to those in need. But what does it take to truly achieve mastery in any area of our life? Why do only a select few ever become great at what they do?
It is a common myth that talent is what makes some people great. From an early age we’re taught that some of us just have a natural aptitude for athletics, or managing companies, or playing an instrument. God given talent is what makes some people masters. So if we try something and discover we’re not all that great at it, or if we experience initial success only to hit a plateau, we give up on mastery, thinking we just weren’t cut out for it. We become a hacker, content with average performance or we give up entirely.
In his book, Talent is Overrated, Geoff Colvin points out that research conducted in the past 30 years or so has proven this idea of inherent talent false. Studies of a variety of subjects - violin players, chess champions, golf pros, etc. - all indicate that the difference between great performers and average performers is hard work and practice, not natural talent. Masters in a given field did not show unusual giftedness, but rather logged many more hours of practice time than their peers and engaged in “deliberate practice” - systematic practice of techniques involving specific goals and regular feedback to improve performance.
George Leonard wrote an inspiring little book called Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-term Fulfillment. Leonard identifies 5 principles that can help you achieve mastery in any area of your life.
1. Instruction
There are some things you can learn on your own, but if you really want to be a master in your field you must find a good teacher or coach to guide your efforts. It’s no accident that Bela Karolyi’s gym produced so many Olympic gymnasts or that Meisner, Adler, and Strasberg taught so many great actors - including Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman. Find someone whose students are performing with excellence and learn your craft at their feet.
2. Practice
This weekend I watched my friend, Jeff, play his acoustic guitar so beautifully and masterfully it seemed effortless. But I know that Jeff goes home every night after work and practices his guitar for at least two hours. Deliberate practice is the key to mastery. We have to learn to love to practice in order to become great. You have to love playing scales on your instrument as much or more than you love performing in the concert hall. An old martial arts saying goes, “The master is the one who stays on the mat five minutes longer every day than anybody else.” Be that guy.
3. Surrender.
The courage of a master is measured by his or her willingness to surrender. To your teacher. To the constant routine of hard work to become better. And sometimes we must surrender our own expert status and become beginners again in order to reach the next level of achievement. Tiger Woods famously remade his golf swing AFTER he had already achieved tremendous success in his sport. For the master, surrender means there are no experts. There are only learners.
4. Intentionality
Intentionality is mindfulness, mental practice, having a vision of what you want to accomplish. Arnold Schwarzenneger argued that pumping a weight one time with full consciousness was worth ten without mental awareness. Average distance runners let their minds wander during a race in order to forget about the pain. Master runners focus on their bodies the whole time in order to perform to the best of their ability with every stride.
Cognitive psychology has discovered that visualizing an activity triggers the same parts of the brain as if we were actually DOING that activity. Mental practice can be as effective as actual practice in achieving mastery.
5. The Edge.
The edge is the point where the master takes a flying leap. It seems to be a contradiction of what got the expert performer to the height of their field in the first place. After dedication to the fundamentals of their discipline and years of small, incremental steps forward there comes a point where these masters take a leap off the edge. “They challenge previous limits, they break the rules they’ve worked so hard to learn, they take risks for the sake of higher performance.”
With All Your Might
Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 verse 10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Like Wilma Rudolph, you don’t need to be limited by challenges or the myth of talent. Whatever you’d like to be a master of, apply these five principles and be satisfied with the slow, steady rewards of deliberate practice.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy:
On Planning for an Uncertain Future: Will someone please tell me what’s going to be on the test? or
Good to Great Obama Style: Why he won the White House and how it applies to You.
Tags: Deliberate Practice, excellence, learning, mastery, performance improvement, personal development, success
August 9th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Thanks for this reminder. I had no idea about Wilma Rudolph’s early struggles with her health. Such an inspiration.
August 9th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
This explains why there’s so much mediocrity in the world.
August 9th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Very refreshing. Everyone seems to be propogating the notion of some great mystical divide between the gifted and the rest. With the right methodology anything can be learned to some finite level of proficiency. The steps you have detailed are an excellent guide to reducing the frustration caused by false starts.
August 9th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Confirms much of what is said in the book “outliers”. Awesomeness is the result of about 10k hrs of hard work.
August 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Glad to see this material resonates with so many people, both commenters here and folks on Twitter. I agree with Nicole and Michael about the prevalence of mediocrity and the supposed “mystical divide” between gifted and ordinary folks. I think all of us can think of examples of peers in school who seemed naturally talented and then never achieved much. For me it was Jenny S. - the fastest girl in our class who quit track after Junior High, and Beth B. - the flute-playing phenom who dropped band because it wasn’t cool.
Of course, we all have our own false starts and failures. How about the set of Bob Ross oil paints and the keyboard I begged my parents for as a kid? I have yet to produce a single finished painting or play a single song. Compare all us shoulda-beens to greats like Michael Jordan or Jerry Rice, athletes who didn’t attract much attention early on but went on to do things that seemed super-human due to their willingness to just plain out-work everyone else. It’s convicting, but also inspiring.
August 10th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Hi Chris, this a great post, so well written. In the last few years we have seen the ‘talent’ myth crumble and this is good.
In his latest book Malcolm Gladwell talked about the 10000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. ‘Your mileage may vary’ but it is refreshing to understand that anyone has a shot at anything, really! It is just in our mind
August 10th, 2009 at 1:41 am
I was having a very similar discussion with someone about this today. We were watching a show on Food Network and this person made the comment that they could never do what they did because they didn’t have the talent. I responded that the talent is most likely learned.
I have found that with creative endeavors especially, the more you do it, not only do your skills improve, but your imagination. Once you start flexing both the physical and mental “muscles”, those creative tasks become more automatic. Your brain learns the patterns necessary to perform the tasks you ask of it.
If only more people would let go of “I don’t have the natural talent” and simply decide to do what they want to do. It really is as simple as that decision. Everything else comes from that one decision. Without it, it truly is impossible to succeed.
August 10th, 2009 at 3:39 am
As Sean mentioned, Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outlier, has some great insights into how people can become a master in a given field. He suggests that anyone who practices their craft diligently for 10,000 hrs will become an expert at it.
This just re-enforces my personal belief that hardwork and dedication is the key to success. Being talented or being gifted just helps speed up the process a bit, but doesn’t eliminate it.
-Arif
August 10th, 2009 at 6:56 am
What an incredible article! Thank you for this information. It can be truly life changing to those that apply its content.
August 10th, 2009 at 11:05 am
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August 10th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
The fact that Jean Philippe, Sean, and Arif all recommend Gladwell’s Outliers is a sure sign I need to move my newly-purchased Audible copy to the top of the iPod. It seems like there have been a lot of books published in this vein lately - Mindset by Carol Dweck and The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin (of Searching for Bobby Fischer fame) are also in my lineup.
Love Leo’s comment about creativity being strengthened with use. Just heard this referred to as “deliberate creativity” - a term that resonates with deliberate practice. Makes me want to seek out Twyla Tharp’s book on the creative process.
August 10th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Yes, everything that you mentioned, Chris, is important. But innate physical and mental ability matter as well.
One obvious example: Michael Phelps. As many sports writers have noted, his body is uniquely suited for swimming well. Imagine Michael and a second swimmer with a body less suited for swimming. If both Michael and the second swimmer shared the same coach, practiced the same number of hours, ate the same food, slept the same amount of time, had the same attitude, which one do you think would be the more successful swimmer?
It seems clear that it would be Phelps.
August 10th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Kris, you make an excellent point. A whole new idea to explore. Physical and mental ability certainly can make some players more likely to succeed in a given field. There is no denying that natural giftedness and good luck give some people an edge in the quest for greatness. I believe Gladwell offers several examples of this in “Outliers.”
Other categories of advantages exist as well. Geoff Colvin point out in “Talent is Overrated” that it’s unlikely Tiger Woods would be Tiger Woods if he didn’t have Earl Woods as a father, or that Mozart would be Mozart without his music teacher father. A parent’s passion for a sport or art form and skill at teaching their progeny can create genius when paired with decades of hard work and deliberate practice.
But what if instead of viewing these blessed superstars as unique among all humanity, we viewed them as the norm? What if we ALL are uniquely advantaged to be a genius at some endeavor, if we could discover our strengths and then apply ourselves to developing mastery in our chosen field?
And what if we pursued mastery at swimming, or golf, or music, not only for the sake of competition (though competition compels us to achieve more), but for the joy of practice and growth? I think we have to find the meaning in the work rather than the rewards or we’ll end up with the Salieri-effect - bitterness that God didn’t give us what Mozart got. Nobody wants to be that dude.
August 12th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I thought this was a great post, Chris; I’m putting up a link to it on my own site. I particularly liked your discussion of surrender; I think it’s a poorly-understood but essential piece of the puzzle, and wrote about it on my own site recently.
Please let me offer a fourth recommendation for Gladwell’s Outliers, although it wasn’t as revelatory for me as Colvin’s Talent Is Overrated.
Kris’s point is well-taken, but Chris, I think you might be backtracking too far in saying “There is no denying that natural giftedness and good luck give some people an edge in the quest for greatness.” Good luck, sure (although a lot of good luck is made), and Gladwell makes a great case for this in his book. But natural giftedness? Now we’re just getting back to that false idea of inborn talent! In the research on the subject, I know of only two exceptions to the idea that everyone has about the same innate capacity to be great in everything: range of intelligence and physical limitations. Where intelligence is concerned, apparently we’re each born with a potential range of intelligence (the IQ-related version) that we can maximize or minimize based on what we do with our brains. However, studies that have followed kids with genius level intelligence seem to show that they aren’t any more successful than kids who are just “smart.” The truth of the intelligence question seems to be that if you’re smart enough to get through grad school, then with enough deliberate practice you can be a world champion at anything intellectual. László Polgár believed this would be true, and raised his three daughters to all be world-class chess champions to prove it, despite not being a particularly exceptional chess player himself.
About physical limitations, some activities are going to require a larger or smaller frame, longer legs, or other characteristics that are genetic. And there are a few special abilities–like absolute pitch that a few musicians have–that seem to be genetic too.
Sorry to go on so long; this is a favorite subject. Enjoyed the post, and am looking forward to reading others.
Luc Reid
The Willpower Engine
August 13th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Fascinating post. I read “outliers” and didn’t agree with his blanket statement of 10,000 hours needed to get good at something.
I think it really depends on what niche you choose to dominate at. The smaller the niche, the less time required.
August 13th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
It becomes apparent in any endeavor that after a certain point most people will settle for a certain level of proficiency. I believe that the passion one has for a skill set also determines how much effort they will apply.
August 14th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Luc reminds me of Colvin’s final chapter. Really the whole premise of his book is that our achievement is not rooted in talent, but in belief - what the people around us believe about our abilities and thus, what we believe about our own capacity to achieve. If we believe we can achieve mastery, we probably can.
Gladwell’s opening chapter of Outliers is relevant, too. Slight variations in ability, or even perceptions of unusual ability, may lead teachers, coaches, or parents to award a child with special praise or attention, which motivates him to try harder at the activity, which leads to more success, which may get him access to better teachers, and begins a cycle that propels him toward mastery.
I just started Outliers so I haven’t read about the 10,000 hours yet, but will be interested to see if I agree with Kaizan. Does Gladwell’s 10,000 hour theory apply mainly to a broad, complex activity, such as “playing golf” or “mastering chess?” If so, I’d think the evidence I’ve seen supports it. If you’re going to attack something simple, like the video game Pong, you could probably achieve mastery in less time.
Bakari raises interesting questions. Where does passion for a skill set come from? Are we born with a passion for something that makes us work harder to improve our skills, or are we born with natural abilities in select areas, so that our early success motivates us to keep trying? Do we inherit our parents’ passion?
I’m reminded of an article I read about hypersensitivities in gifted children. http://bit.ly/3wi2b7 I do believe there is “neurodiversity” among human beings, that our abilities fall along a spectrum and some people are at the high end of the spectrum and stand out from the crowd. I personally related to Dabrowski’s classification of “Intellectual Intensity” defined below:
“This intensity is the one most recognized in gifted children. It is characterized by activities of the mind, thought and thinking about thinking. Children who lead with this intensity seem to be thinking all the time and want answers to deep thoughts. Sometimes their need for answers will get them in trouble in school when their questioning of the teacher can look like disrespectful challenging.”
Deep curiosity
Love of knowledge and learning
Love of problem solving
Avid reading
Asking of probing questions
Theoretical thinking
Analytical thinking
Independent thinking
Concentration, ability to maintain intellectual effort”
Is Dabrowski’s theory bunk, or is this really a type of giftedness? Did I just develop these characteristics because my parents were teachers and encouraged me to love learning and thinking? I always felt different from other kids growing up, but was it a result of adults telling me I was different and the belief then leading me to work harder intellectually? I also was given access to “talented and gifted” programs and more challenging coursework, which likely pushed whatever abilities I had even further. And in the end, I certainly would not say that my special “talented and gifted” status made me any likelier to succeed than if I’d just been an ordinary kid. My achievements to date are pretty ordinary. Many high achieving adults showed no outstanding abilities as children.
So are talented and gifted programs overrated, too? Or do they serve an important purpose in our educational system that should not be ignored? I grew up in the system, so I’m inclined to be in favor of them. I wonder what others think, and what the research shows.
August 16th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Great thoughts. Will try and start implementing your sugg’s. Thanks
Dave
LifeExcursion
August 24th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
While I do agree that most if not all physical tasks are master able by everyone. i don’t agree that all right brained tasks are master able, yet at least more on this later down. I do apologies in advance for my grammar and spelling mistakes please don’t take this as a sign that i don’t have intelligence. I have an incredible difference between my verbal and written IQs. Since a very young age i have been able to read at incredibly fast rates and retain most if not all of it. I dont think thats a skill most people can get yes you can train to be a speed reader as prooven her by tim ferris http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/07/30/speed-reading-and-accelerated-learning/ But i don’t think you can train to be able to read things once maybe twice and have it in memory forever. for example when i was 15 i had a 150 word vocabulary test that I didn’t get to study for. I looked down the list of the words for about 5 minutes. took the test and scored a 99%. Only because i forgot to fill my name in. Another example is my musical ear that i was born with. I have perfect pitch meaning I can hear any sound and tell you what note it is. In everything that i have read i have never found somebody being able to train to having a perfect pitch ear. I know you can gain a better relative pitch ear because everybody has relative pitch its just a matter of being able to find out what the differences mean notation wise. The last skill i can think of is singing while people can train to have very good singing voices some people just have better voices that cant be trained to. Yes those singers have to maintain there voices threw rigorous training but they have a natural vibrato that there born with. But about my very early comment in this post about training right brained activities and how we cant just yet. I don’t think that we know enough about the right brain yet to fully understand how it works. because while science is incredible its all about left brained thoughts of logic. Once science can open up and use the right brain for more then just creativity but using the right brain’s mixed brand of logic i think we will be able to fully understand how to learn right brained tasks. I am 17 and if anything i have posted is wrong please do not hesitate to point out the research that says other wise that is why im posting this i am very curious if you truly can gain every skill in the world with out any natural talent for it.