“We can make ourselves what we will” (Colvin). What will you make yourself? Will you make yourself great? Throughout Geoffrey Colvin’s article “What It Takes to Be Great,” Colvin says that with many different steps of hard work we can make ourselves great. Using scientific evidence, Colvin shows that greatness comes from more than just talent. Instead, Colvin says greatness must do with the amount of practice and work put into improving a skill. Colvin says that greatness is made through hard work and what he calls “deliberate practice.” There are many steps that must be taken to improve a skill. One step is “deliberate practice,” which is practicing with the intention to improve a skill. Another step to greatness is to adopt a new mindset.
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“It’s activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results, and involves high levels of repetition” (Colvin). “Deliberate practice” is practice that focuses on doing everything possible to improve a wanted skill. For example, while golfing you decide to use “deliberate practice,” so instead of simply hitting a bucket of balls, you choose to set a goal for yourself. This goal is to hit the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80% of the time you hit a ball. When you don’t get the ball to the desired spot you stop and examine what you did wrong and figure out how to improve your hits. You continue doing this process of hitting, examining, and hitting again till you reach your goal of being within 20 feet of the pin 80% of the time. This is a wonderful example of “deliberate practice.” With “deliberate practice,” you strive to reach your goal even when it’s hard and tiring. In the end, it is that hard, tiring “deliberate practice” that creates the greatness you so greatly …show more content…
I found that this half-hearted practice was unsuccessful. When I decided to start making time to focus and work on my business I saw many improvements. When I started to focus and work hard on my business I was using what Colvin calls “deliberate practice.” When I started using “deliberate practice” I saw many improvements in my business. Previously, I had done work on my shop while not properly focused, but when I set time apart and focused on improving my shop I found that the hard work paid off. I started setting goals for myself that seemed impossible, and started reaching those goals. I started working hard and saw tremendous improvements come to my shop. I found that “deliberate practice” is tiring and exhausting, but, in the end, pays off. Colvin says, “You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.” As Colvin says, hard work and “deliberate practice” is demanding and painful, but that was the only way to achieve the greatness that I desired. “Deliberate practice” was just one of the many skills I used to improve my
“It’s activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one’s level of competence, provides feedback on results, and involves high levels of repetition” (Colvin). “Deliberate practice” is practice that focuses on doing everything possible to improve a wanted skill. For example, while golfing you decide to use “deliberate practice,” so instead of simply hitting a bucket of balls, you choose to set a goal for yourself. This goal is to hit the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80% of the time you hit a ball. When you don’t get the ball to the desired spot you stop and examine what you did wrong and figure out how to improve your hits. You continue doing this process of hitting, examining, and hitting again till you reach your goal of being within 20 feet of the pin 80% of the time. This is a wonderful example of “deliberate practice.” With “deliberate practice,” you strive to reach your goal even when it’s hard and tiring. In the end, it is that hard, tiring “deliberate practice” that creates the greatness you so greatly …show more content…
I found that this half-hearted practice was unsuccessful. When I decided to start making time to focus and work on my business I saw many improvements. When I started to focus and work hard on my business I was using what Colvin calls “deliberate practice.” When I started using “deliberate practice” I saw many improvements in my business. Previously, I had done work on my shop while not properly focused, but when I set time apart and focused on improving my shop I found that the hard work paid off. I started setting goals for myself that seemed impossible, and started reaching those goals. I started working hard and saw tremendous improvements come to my shop. I found that “deliberate practice” is tiring and exhausting, but, in the end, pays off. Colvin says, “You will achieve greatness only through an enormous amount of hard work over many years. And not just any hard work, but work of a particular type that’s demanding and painful.” As Colvin says, hard work and “deliberate practice” is demanding and painful, but that was the only way to achieve the greatness that I desired. “Deliberate practice” was just one of the many skills I used to improve my