What is the secret of talent? How do we unlock it? This groundbreaking work provides readers with tools they can use to maximize potential in themselves and others. Whether you’re coaching soccer or teaching a child to play the piano, writing a novel or trying to improve your golf swing, this revolutionary book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism.
Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds—from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York—Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything.
• Deep Practice Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice.
• Ignition We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment—call it passion—born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development.
• Master Coaching What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students.
These three elements work together within your brain to form myelin, a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movements and thoughts. Scientists have discovered that myelin might just be the holy grail: the foundation of all forms of greatness, from Michelangelo’s to Michael Jordan’s. The good news about myelin is that it isn’t fixed at birth; to the contrary, it grows, and like anything that grows, it can be cultivated and nourished.
Combining revelatory analysis with illuminating examples of regular people who have achieved greatness, this book will not only change the way you think about talent, but equip you to reach your own highest potential.
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"I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. Being in my mid 40's, I grew up around a lot of elders that believed Talent in most areas of life was something that you were either born with or did not have. The studies discussed in this book should give everyone hope that the old way of thinking is not the case .... In addition, there are techniques that can help you get started on the right track."
— Shane (4 out of 5 stars)
" I loved the book and enjoyed every little detail of it. I recommend it to everyone. "
— Susie , 5/17/2016" A very important message! I don't like Coyle's writing style but enjoyed the book. Very well structured. "
— Pooneh, 2/16/2014" There was nothing new to me in this book--and I've been retired from education for 4 years! "
— Kathy, 2/7/2014" This is a very good book and one that I would read as a follow up to Outliers. There are quite a few books on the science of talent and many of them quote the same things. This is a good book - a tad longer than some of the other ones I've read. If you want to nurture students and children and have a little time to read it, it is a good read. "
— Vicki, 2/4/2014" Fantastic Book!! Totally transformed my perspective about learning, sports, the brain, failure/struggle, and more! "
— Adam, 1/20/2014" I really enjoyed this book. It was very illuminating. "
— Devon, 1/19/2014" Useful book. Skill is something you can improve, not just something you're born with. "
— William, 1/19/2014" A nuts-and-bolts look at how talent can come together in an individual. I read Coyle's book about Lance Armstrong several years. This is a departure for him but very well done. "
— Tim, 1/8/2014" We are always asking what we can do better. As a teacher then a coach I was constantly honing how I dealt with every teacher every minute of every interaction. This book is going to play an impact the second I am back at work and dealing with anyone! "
— Srosch, 12/29/2013" interesting. I've watched this phenomenon unfold with my young daughter as she learns. Now... how NOT to lose this!? "
— Kathleen, 12/28/2013" A bit like Outliers, and didn't tell my much I didn't know (well, I didn't know about myelin, but I knew the idea of it), but I enjoyed it. I want to use it to talk about how and why we create the culture we do at our school with new staff. "
— Jessica, 12/21/2013Daniel Coyle wrote the New York Times bestseller Lance Armstrong’s War and Hardball: A Season in the Projects. A contributing editor of Outside magazine, he lives with his wife and four children in Homer, Alaska.