Garret

What if I was to say to you that there is a way to almost guarantee greatness in something you love, and that you can have it. Id like you to imagine what youd be prepared to do to have that. How far could you push yourself to make it happen?

Well, Im here to pass on a message to you: science is saying that YOU can achieve greatness in almost anything you desire. Vast amounts of research have gone into the study of what makes the best well, the best. A wide array of fields has been covered ranging from sports, to musicians and even in business; and the overwhelming bulk of evidence all points to one conclusion. That natural talent is actually irrelevant to the achievement of great success!

British-based researchers Michael J. Howe, Jane W. Davidson and John A. Sluboda conclude in an extensive study, "The evidence we have surveyed does not support the notion that excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts."

It is a common belief amongst many people that when they find the discipline that they were born to excel in, then greatness will come to them quickly and it will be like a perfect fairytale just how Walt Disney would have liked, but thats just not how it happens. There is no evidence of anybody ever achieving excellence in anything without practice and experience.

What has been found is that there is no substitute for good old fashioned hard work. But this isnt just any kind of hard work- this is a very specific type of practice in the skill you are trying to develop.

Just working hard is not enough-- there are a lot of people who have worked for years or even decades trying to achieve excellence but never really got anywhere. So what is it that allows some people to continue improving long after everyone else has peaked? This is the fundamental question that the researchers have been trying to answer. Most people improve rapidly at first and then eventually peak. The ones who go on to greatness are the people who just never stopped getting better.

The answer that science has come up with is the deliberate practice model. Professor K Ericsson of Florida State University first coined the expression deliberate practice in his landmark paper of 1993 and he produced the figure of 10,000 hours of deliberate practice as the requirement to achieve greatness.

What is deliberate practice? Ill use an example: for a golfer, hitting a bucket of balls at the range does not count. However, hitting an 8-iron 300 times with the aim of leaving the ball within 20feet of the pin 80% of the time, and doing this time and time again, days and weeks on end; that is deliberate practice. You dont stop until you can do this comfortably and then you make the challenge harder.

Deliberate practice means constantly challenging yourself. You set yourself goals that push yourself beyond where you have been before, meanwhile constantly monitoring your results and making appropriate adjustments.

Of course there are still skeptics to the idea that natural ability isn't a pre-requisite to success, but the more study is done in the area the more convincing the evidence becomes.

Lets take some real life examples of this. One of the most famous sportsmen ever, Michael Jordan surely possessed a mammoth natural talent for basketball-- then it seems unlikely that he would have been dropped from his high school basketball team. Rather he is an example of the deliberate practice model. He would continue training long after the rest of his team had finished their already brutal practice sessions. He would challenge himself to his very limits all the time and that is why he became the best.

Meanwhile the world's best golfer Tiger Woods, also follows the model. He has been entirely dedicated to getting better at golf since the age of three and has done everything it takes to do it; including remodeling his swing twice, because that is what it took to improve.

It is not true to say that anybody can be great at anything they choose. Physical traits can be limiting factors though they are not as influential as you may think. It is amazing what people can overcome to achieve greatness. But if youre 5 foot 2 and naturally slim a career in sumo wrestling may not be for you!

Really though these genetic factors determine what you dont do rather than what you can do. All you have to do is find a discipline that you are suited to and work like hell on it, always pushing to get better. Aimless practicing will achieve nothing.

Its so simple really but the reason so few people ever achieve greatness is because this challenge is SO difficult. The work is so painstaking, so intense; requires such dedication and motivation that almost everybody who attempts it will fall away whilst those who REALLY want to succeed will do so. You havent just got to want something, youve got to want it so much that it hi-jacks your brain. It is all that you ever think about and you believe beyond any doubt that you will achieve it. Only through that self-belief is it possible to continue in the face of barriers to success which are sure to emerge.

Be comforted: you have the ability to be great but only if you are prepared to make great sacrifice. So make your decision: how much do you want it?

Fraser Hasell is a personal development guru who is now specialising in his childhood passion: golf. View his website at http://www.goodatgolf.com