Innate talent is overrated

Innate talent is overrated. This is not my motivational quote of the day. But these are hard facts based on solid scientific research that I have been lucky to uncover. Anyone can achieve expertise in any skill of their choice ,if they are willing to put in the hours and use the right techniques.

(Brain and Body are Adaptable)

When I lived in London, I used cabs to travel around the city at times. I was amazed by the navigational abilities of the cab drivers, who could navigate a very complex maze of hundreds of streets, thousands of shops, restaurants, landmarks in a large city like London without a tool like google maps. I once asked a driver about how they did it? I was intrigued to learn that they undergo a very rigorous and long training and testing process to get a cab driver license in London. I looked up this, one thing led to another and found that there is ample research done on the abilities of London cab drivers. Per research, the part of their brain that is responsible for spatial navigation is larger than other normal people and than their own self before they started training. This proved that prolonged rigorous training, caused changes to their brains, that in turn gave them superior abilities. Just like when you train for a marathon for a long duration, you start building strength, muscles and endurance. My point being both our brain and body are adaptable and can be tuned to achieve superior abilities

(Mental representations)

I read this book called Moonwalking with Einstein. It’s a story of a very ordinary guy, a journalist, who starts writing about world memory competitions and eventually becomes a world champion himself through years of hard work and proper practice. He built a system that enabled him to remember long sequences of numbers easily by encoding them as images such a door, a window or any object in his house. A? longer sequence of numbers is a series of images in his mind that he calls a memory palace. Recalling a really long number is like taking a walk in his house and seeing these objects. He was creating mental shortcuts that helped him improve his abilities. Any skill involves creating such mental shortcuts and some physical abilities. More effort you spend, the more such mental shortcuts you create in your brain, the more proficient you become at any skill. But how do we achieve this state?

(Deliberate Practice) - Read Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

When I was in school, I played long hours of Table Tennis with my friends. It was fun and a lot of hours. But to my astonishment, I never became a state champion or even a district champion. I thought I put in the hours, why? am I not a pro. Well it’s not just about putting in long hours, but also few other things. We need to have a step by step plan to achieve a certain level of expertise. It’s important that each of those steps should push you out of your current comfort zone. You need to pay real good attention to the mistakes that you are making or you need someone - a good coach who can give you that crucial feedback, that you can use to course correct. Repeat this for a really long time - i mean really really long - you will become an expert in a field of your choice. This technique is called deliberate practice and this will help you build the right mental representations and the necessary physical state that you need to become an expert

(Motivations)

So how do I then stay motivated to be invested in a certain pursuit for a really long time.?

There are factors that can make me quit - AVOID THEM WORK AROUND THEM

- I don’t like to wake up early, so I can practice my run in the evening.?

- I get distracted by folks at home - choose a quiet place to practice your math?

And there are factors that can make me persist - DO MORE OF IT

-My speed has improved, i feel good, i am going to do better tomorrow

-I found a group who supports me, i want to practice with this group

-I believe i can do it -no matter what

So next time you see your child or peer failing at something, don’t think they lack the talent. Anyone can become an expert in any field if they put in the hours and do it the right way, maybe get a coach or a good mentor and figure out a way to stay motivated.

PS : These are not my original ideas. They are pretty much a summary of the books mentioned above. I am big fan of self help books that are based on hard scientific research. They are often life changing.