Anders Ericsson

‘Good enough’ is generally good enough. But it’s important to remember that *the option exists.* If you wish to become significantly better at something, you can.

We need to start now. ... And we need to get the message out: you can take charge of your own potential. But it is the coming generations who have the most to gain. The most important gifts we can give our children are the confidence in their ability to remake themselves again and again and the tools with which to do the job.

Remember: if your mind is wandering or you’re relaxed and just having fun, you probably won’t improve.

So that’s the problem in a nutshell: purposeful practice is hard work. It’s hard to keep going.

These studies... tell us that the brain’s structure and function are not fixed. They change in response to use. It is possible to shape the brain—your brain, my brain, anybody’s brain—in the ways that we desire through conscious, deliberate training.

Much of deliberate practice involves developing ever more efficient mental representations that you can use in whatever activity you are practicing.

Every world-class athlete, every prima ballerina, every concert violinist, every chess grandmaster is living proof it can be done—that people can practice hard day after day, week after week, for years on end. These people have all figured out how to get past the New Year’s resolution effect and make deliberate practice an ongoing part of their lives.

And this, more than anything else, is the lesson that people should take away from all these stories and all this research: There is no reason not to follow your dream. Deliberate practice can open the door to a world of possibilities that you may have been convinced were out of reach. Open that door.

The right sort of practice carried out over a sufficient period of time leads to improvement. Nothing else. This book describes in detail what that ‘right sort of practice’ is and how it can be put to work.