Jared Mosher is following a dream. He is 32 years old, long past the age when most people in his chosen profession have reached whatever level they are going to …
Gynecology Residents Benefit from Performing Virtual Surgeries
Surgery is a classic example of a skill, like flying, where it is hard to get really challenging practice because of the potentially deadly consequences if you screw up — …
Deliberate Practice in Retail Sales
I’ve spent years studying and writing about deliberate practice, and even I am still surprised every now and then by just how powerful it can be. Most recently this happened …
Focusing on One Thing at a Time
I recently came across a thoughtful blog post by Scott Young (see it here). It’s worth clicking on the link and reading the whole post (it’s short), but here’s the …
A New, Old Way to Teach Art
We all have our weaknesses, things we’re just not very good at, and one of mine is drawing. When I try to draw a person, the result is somewhat more …
How Many Hours to Become an Expert? It Depends
I got an interesting e-mail the other day from a website visitor named Martin, who made a number of interesting points, but this one in particular I thought was worth …
Video Games and Deliberate Practice
I’m always on the lookout for examples of people using deliberate practice to get better in new and surprising areas, so I was delighted when Anders sent me a link …
Once a World Champion Martial Artist, Now a Surgeon
One of the first things you learn in studying expert performers and deliberate practice is just how difficult it is to truly excel in a given field. Out of every …
Mental Representations in Car Racing
As I wrote in an earlier blog (October 25, 2017), the development of accurate and detailed mental representations is a crucial part—perhaps the most crucial part—of becoming highly skilled in …
Virtual Reality and Deliberate Practice
There was a fascinating article in today’s New York Times about how virtual reality is being used to help college athletes improve performance (see it here). The main focus was on …