One assignment that my seventh grade Language Arts teacher gave me many years ago, continues to influence my mentality on how to achieve success and to excel. It was to describe the difference between ...

In the late 1970s, Anders Ericsson devised a very boring experiment. His subject, Steve Faloon, was instructed to memorize random strings of numbers. Ericsson’s interest was in how many numbers Steve ...

“One thing about training I know now that I wish I knew at the beginning of my career is the training technique ‘Deliberate Practice,’” Deputy Chief of Operations (Ret.) Ted Nee [Albuquerque (NM) Fire ...

There is growing evidence that individuals can achieve high levels of performance through extended training. You may remember the 10,000 hour rule discussed by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers (2011). It ...

Ballet is a dazzling art form. Dancers defy gravity as they leap and pirouette across the stage. Every movement is precise; every gesture considered. The world’s most accomplished dancers also make ...

Seeking sports excellence? Follow the example of elite performers. Expert athletic skill isn’t something you’re born with and doesn’t randomly happen. The expertise of athletes—as well as singers, ...

Managers make a wide range of decisions, from routine calls they face on a recurring basis, to large-scale strategic decisions they may encounter just once in their careers. For issues that are often ...

We’ve all heard the saying, “practice makes perfect.” So why is it that some of us continue to blame our lack of success in a particular specialty — be it music, golf, business — on a so-called lack ...

Some people are dramatically better at activities like sports, music and chess than other people. Take the basketball great Stephen Curry. This past season, breaking the record he set last year by ...

In prior lessons we learned some of the key principles of memorization: Lesson 1: encoding, consolidation, retrieval, reconsolidation Lesson 2: getting motivated Lesson 3: paying attention Lesson 8: ...