Vanessa Espin
In the Article “Peak Performance” Daniel Goldman writes about the importance of practice, what it takes to be the best at what one does, and how nowadays one has to live their sport to surpass what once has been thought as impossible. The author gives very valuable facts to support his thoughts on self-improvement. This article was written for a very wide audience. Almost everyone can benefit from his research and personal opinion. We all have dreams and goals we want to achieve and practice is fundamental. Goldman writes that the more one practices the bigger chance one has at being the best. He gives facts about the most talented people in the world and how the one thing they all have in common is the amount of time and dedication they have put into their carriers or goals. But to be a Star, more than practice is needed. Passion and talent need to be involved too. When this three come together, one will be able to overcome any mental or physical obstacle.
I founded interested when he said “ Perhaps the most surprising data show that extensive practice can break through barriers in mental capacities, particularly short term memory.” The more a person practices the better it gets, its fascinating to see how people over the years keep getting better and better and to imagine what a future holds for future generations. What now is considered excellence one day will be perhaps, simply “good”.
I also found interesting when he mentioned that “ One student, a business major not especially talented in mathematics, was able to remember 102 digits. The feat took him more than 400 hours of practice.” Meaning that a person who simply gives more dedication, and practice to something that they might not be talented at, can perform much better than someone who is talented, but lacks on practice and dedication.
The purpose of the article is to inform the reader that there is no such thing as talent vs. hard work. It takes both and more to achieve excellence. Anyone with passion and hard work can become talented and break barriers. It proves its point by informing the reader how times have changed, how practice has made the impossible possible. Humans seem to be achieving incredible mental and physical capacity through hard work and dedication.
