The Recipe for True Success from Writer Matthew Syed

Hidden reasons for success

In his book The Science of Success, Matthew Syed analyzes the factors that have influenced the success of outstanding athletes and artists (among them Mozart and Picasso, Beckham and Federer). To begin with, he recalls the popular theory that Malcolm Gladwell described in his book "". Gladwell believes that many have achieved success not because of talent, but because of the environment in which they grew up.

It seems to us that outstanding people achieve everything on their own. But in reality, their success is heavily influenced by the hidden benefits and unique opportunities that enable them to learn, work hard, and see the world in a way that others cannot.

Malcolm Gladwell

Studying the life and work of masters of their craft, the following can be noted. First, a certain origin and associated possibilities, as already mentioned above. Secondly, a huge amount of time and effort spent on conscious practice. Even so, some rules inevitably favor some and obstruct others.

An illustration is the effect of relative age, which occurs, for example, when recruiting children's sports teams. Imagine that your child is playing on a football team, all of which were born in the same year. However, someone born in January will have a nearly one-year advantage over someone born in December. And at this stage of physical development, a year is practically a whole life.

Birth month is one of those hidden factors that determine success and failure. These factors make it possible to practice seriously. Or, on the contrary, they are deprived of such an opportunity. In this case, no talent will help.

Matthew Syed

Practice

So, if you have the time and opportunity to practice, you have already passed the first line. Now you need to understand what exactly will help you achieve the best results.

Correct practice:

It will help to acquire skills that will speed up or automate the work process.
Will make you always learn something new and stay focused.

Let's take a closer look at the first point. Imagine that you were asked to look at a set of letters RAOBYONAAYAKCHS once and repeat it without peeping. It is quite difficult. It is believed that our brain can remember only seven objects at a time, and now there are 12 of them.

And now let's swap the letters and get the phrase "BLACK DOG". The letters are the same, but they are built in a meaningful way, and it is easier to remember them. Even if you were able to retain the letters from the first example, it is much easier to reproduce them in the second case.

It is thanks to this skill (dividing information into blocks that help to remember it faster) those whom we consider masters of their craft achieve amazing results. Janet Starkes, professor of kinesiology at McMaster University, describes it as follows:

Recognizing familiar scenarios and dividing information into meaningful blocks and patterns speeds up the workflow.

Unfortunately, this cannot be learned from a textbook, the skill comes only with experience. It won't work if you just spend a lot of time on work: you need to constantly concentrate to learn to see these patterns.

This is why, in many professions, time spent has little to do with the quality of work. Experience alone, if not backed up by proper concentration, is not a guarantee of mastery.

Matthew Syed

It turns out that if you want to remember something, it must be difficult for you. Research in various fields of knowledge confirms: we become professionals only by working on what is given to us with difficulty, or what we cannot do at all.

Of course, this does not mean that maintaining a skill does not take time and effort. But if you want to develop, you need to strain.

We achieve first-class results when we strive for a goal just beyond our reach, but at the same time vividly imagine how to overcome that distance. After some time, thanks to numerous repetitions and concentration, the distance will completely disappear and we will have a new goal.

Matthew Syed

However, results can only be achieved if you have made a conscious decision to devote yourself to a particular cause. You need to give all of yourself to the cause, not because your parents or teachers said so, but because you yourself want it. Psychologists call this intrinsic motivation. It is often lacking for children who start doing something too early, or those who are too coerced. Without intrinsic motivation, you will not move towards mastery, but towards emotional exhaustion.

conclusions

In theory, we can all become outstanding musicians or athletes. But if you want to be successful, you must understand that you will have to delve deeply into your business and work hard for many years. Be prepared for many obstacles. It's unavoidable. Only obstacles help us grow and learn new things.

In addition, you must have intrinsic motivation, because the path will be long, and if you cannot motivate yourself, you will never get what you want. Luck and genes will also play a role.

Fortunately, even if you only focus on what you can control, you will still be pleased with the results.