Some Motivation

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to list a few books that I have read lately that I think will help to clarify and solidify the reasoning behind @Coach Sommer 's and other top performers' approach in both gymnastics and any other area of life.  First, is the book that I'm currently reading and that is "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss, who, I'm sure most of you are aware of by now. Coach is featured in the book following his appearance on Tim's podcast.  I'd also like to congratulate @Mats Trane for being mentioned in the book as one of the Instagram accounts that Tim follows (pp. 328).  

Now for the other books and the main reason for my writing this.  The first that I would suggest as it is the shortest and gives a quick overview of the general idea is "The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills." This is a distilled version of "The Talent Code" also by Daniel Coyle.  In these books Coyle describes the core methods by which talent hotbeds create an inordinate number of highly skilled and highly successful individuals across multiple disciplines from tennis to music. One main focal point that you may have Coach mention, is to focus on the basics.

The next, which is actually the first of these that I read, is "Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" by Anders Ericsson. This book also helps to explain why some people are exponentially better than others in their field.  

The last book that I will mention is "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth.  In this book she discusses, as the title implies how perseverance affects success and discusses how to predict who will ultimately succeed.

An interesting point that is discussed across all of these books is that it is not "natural talent" that ultimately determines who will be the best.  In fact they all suggest the same thing, that it is FOCUSED practice that determines who will be the best.  Those who appear to by head and shoulders above the others have most likely also put in the most intelligently focused effort. Remember that Michael Jordan didn't make the team on his first attempt, but he ultimately outworked everyone else.  

All of these reinforce that most of us didn't get in the condition that we are in overnight we practiced being stiff, weak, and immobile and we will not repair the deficiencies overnight. However, with focused consistent practice there really isn't a limit to how much anyone can improve.  I found the information to be motivating and hope that it will help some others as well.

"The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills" by Daniel Coyle

"The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle

"Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" by Anders Ericsson

"Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth

"Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss

I read them all, and the Tools of Titans are laying in my sofa to be the next  :-)  all of them are a great reminder of that consistent work over time is the winner!

Yes and one of the things that I found most interesting is the fact that through this process you are literally reshaping your brain as well as the rest of your body.

To add to the list, a book which has been mentioned previously on this forum and which I found very inspirational is "The art of learning" by Joshua Waitzkin.

I second Waitzkin's book. I loved it.

I just bought The Art of Learning. I'll be starting on that next. Thanks for the recommendation.

I'd gotten the audiobook a year or so ago, narrated by Waitzkin, himself. It really is great. I'll third that recommendation.

On December 8, 2016 at 1:27 PM, Bradley OConnell said:

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to list a few books that I have read lately that I think will help to clarify and solidify the reasoning behind @Coach Sommer 's and other top performers' approach in both gymnastics and any other area of life.  First, is the book that I'm currently reading and that is "Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss, who, I'm sure most of you are aware of by now. Coach is featured in the book following his appearance on Tim's podcast.  I'd also like to congratulate @Mats Trane for being mentioned in the book as one of the Instagram accounts that Tim follows (pp. 328).  

All of these reinforce that most of us didn't get in the condition that we are in overnight we practiced being stiff, weak, and immobile and we will not repair the deficiencies overnight. However, with focused consistent practice there really isn't a limit to how much anyone can improve.  I found the information to be motivating and hope that it will help some others as well.

 

"The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills" by Daniel Coyle

"The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle

"Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise" by Anders Ericsson

"Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth

"Tools of Titans" by Tim Ferriss

One of the things that I've found helpful is in addition to learning about what works, is to look introspectively at what one does by habit on a day to day basis that doesn't work, and eliminate those bad habits.

To use an automobile metaphor, in addition to focusing on what actions one can do to make a car run faster, one must also ensure that there aren't any limiting factors (e.g. handbrake still engaged) that are restricting its forward movement. Sometimes these "limiting factors" can be more powerful bottlenecks to our progress than we realize.

To use a GST example, a lack of shoulder-extension mobility, and compression mobility will pretty much be a limiting factor for many GST exercises no matter how "strong" the athlete may be in other aspects of GST.

I'm currently trying identify and reduce to a minimum the various "handbrakes" that I tend to succumb to, often subconsciously, in my daily life, which if I don't address them now will have a very powerful long-term impact on the outcomes in my life even though their day to day impact may appear insignificant.

Just some food for thought.

I have an addition to this list.  "Chasing Excellence" by Ben Bergeron.  I know that there is a bias here against Crossfit, but the mindset is the  point in this book and is excellent regardless of the sport.