Book Review, January 20, 2013: Talent Is Overrated

The subtitle of this fascinating book by Geoff Colvin is "What Really Separates World Class Performers from Everybody Else."

And the answer to that puzzle is, just like your mom, and your piano teacher, and your basketball coach, kept telling you: Practice. Practice. Practice.

But it's not just any kind of practice. It doesn't work, for instance, to practice the piano while watching cartoons (yes, my dear Aunties everywhere, Madame L knows about this!), or to keep goofing off when you're supposed to be making layups. 

This author calls the kind of practice you need to do, if you want to excel at anything, "deliberate practice." He gives examples and suggests ways you can do this for yourself.

He even talks about motivation, which he calls "the passion," which explains how it works better than that old "motivation" word. 

In short, this is a better self-help book than most. You may even be inspired to make the changes that will help you excel in an area you are willing to work on.

In fact, this book may help you hurdle into accomplishing some of your New Years resolutions, if you have made any...or some of your goals, of which Madame L is sure you have plenty.

Madame L got "Talent Is Overrated" from her local library and she recommends her Dear and Loyal Readers do the same, although it's available used in soft-cover for just over $5.00 (plus shipping) from Amazon.com. Madame L would love to hear from any Dear Readers who have enjoyed the book, especially if they have been able to put into practice some of the principles.