Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!

In 1996, Mom discovered eBay and my pleas for her to start using email instead of the phone were answered. I was an undergrad trying to save pennies – this was before unlimited wireless – I hated using those ridiculous calling cards. We still had landlines. Do they even have landlines in dorm [...]

More about Myelin

Lisa McLellan mentioned the movie Lorenzo’s oil after the post on building talent. Since I had no idea what she was talking about, I wiki’ed it. In a short moment I appreciated the profound difference between needing to lug my notebook (which was a yellow pad and pen, not some clever little thing with keyboard) [...]

What is Talent?

Talent is one of those things we talk about all the time, but very rarely define. How often do you refer to someone doing something incredible: Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Dara Torres, Usain Bolt as a Natural Talent?
Since that often feels a bit like a cop-out, let’s dive in to the science of [...]

Winning with Nuclear Fusion, a New Metaphor

Winning with Nuclear Fusion
Thursday evening I ended up in a conversation about nuclear fusion, not a subject I know much about, but I have a vague understanding . . . that got me thinking about what it takes to launch a business, or learn a new skill since both of those activities require an extraordinary [...]

Record Breaking Second Place

Earlier this week a reader reminded me of another example of a record breaking performance that comes in second place.
Sammy Sosa vs Roger Maris . . .
. . . vs Mark McGwire
In 1998, Sammy Sosa soundly beat Roger Maris’ 1961 home run record of 61 in one season. Sammy was the first player to [...]

Running Mastery: Sports Stat of the Week

So you probably thought you’d hear about hockey this week given that preseason begins . . . now, but instead how about a diversion to running.
In tandem with my research on the non verbal, environmental cues that foster the growth of super stars I get to look at super stars themselves. It’s really amazing to [...]

Growing Super Stars: Part 2

Who are you hanging around?
If you are interested in being a track star are you hanging around couch potatoes?
When you are ready to push yourself, you drop the ineffective parts of your training without a second thought. For a business owner who is about to blast off, that may mean you stop hanging out with [...]

Never Too Old to be a Super Star

Think you have mastered all that you are able to master and that life and learning are about to pass you by? Has your dream of challenging Eric Clapton to a little strumming vanished? Think that you are too old to pick up the violin?
There is hope!
Many adults consider themselves over-the-hill and not likely to [...]

Non Verbal Influence

Rough draft of the first 20 minutes (26 minutes) of a presentation on nonverbal communication.
Forget to Resist Me: 21 non verbal cues you can use to influence your outcomes!
Also known as get your spouse to take out the garbage without griping.
(link removed)
The download link is for yousendit – the file is too large for [...]

Super Stars: Born, Created or Molded?

Does achievement clump in time and location? And ultimately, can you do anything to create the super star cluster?