More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
twice. Chapter 3 EFFORT COUNTS TWICE Not a day goes by that I don’t read or hear the word talent
“Superlative performance is really a confluence of dozens of small skills or activities, each one learned or stumbled upon, which have been carefully drilled into habit and then are fitted together in a synthesized whole. There is nothing extraordinary or superhuman in any one of those actions; only the fact that they are done consistently and correctly, and all together, produce excellence.”
“Well, for one thing, there are no shortcuts to excellence. Developing real expertise, figuring out really hard problems, it all takes time—longer than most people imagine. And then, you know, you’ve got to apply those skills and produce goods or services that are valuable to people. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.
“Just because you love something doesn’t mean you’ll be great,” says self-proclaimed Tiger Mom Amy Chua. “Not if you don’t work. Most people stink at the things they love.”
Even the most complex and creative of human abilities can be broken down into its component skills, each of which can be practiced, practiced, practiced.
