Surround Yourself With Greatness

The biggest difference between growing up in the 2000’s and growing up in the 70’s (like me) is that the idea of natural talent has been debunked.  Everyone hasn’t quite caught up to this universal truth, since I still hear people say things like “that person has so much natural talent!”, but I have learned enough that I beg to differ.

The more you read about it these days, you will find that it is true:

We all possess talents, it’s just that we need the right guidance to learn how to develop these talents to their full potential.  

Reading “The Talent Code” by Daniel Coyle is a great way to start your journey learning about this new way of thinking about becoming a master at something.

One of the best ways to begin to realize your full potential in any field that interests you is to surround yourself with greatness.  When I was a kid, this was a little difficult; no tv, no internet, and my parents had to drive me a heck of a long way to hear (or take a lesson with) a great musician.  These days, we have many innovative ways to “observe” greatness.  We can:

  • Watch a YouTube video when we wake up, before we practice, or before we go to bed.
  • Read great books on subjects written by masters, or at least people with way more experience than us.
  • Check out webinars on lynda.com or speeches on TED.
  • Listen to audiobooks.

As Coyle states in his book, we all need to fill our head with vivid images of our future self with a “windshield” of people in front of us, and stare at these images every day.  Studies have shown that even a brief connection with a role model can increase unconscious motivation several-fold.

When I started getting out of deep debt, my windshield was filled with the greats in the personal finance/behavior modification business.  When I started exercising seriously, I stared at videos of athletes closely and tried to internalize their approach to their sport.  We all have incredible proximity to greatness at all times thanks to technology.

Whatever your journey, know that you are capable of greatness and that you have all the means in the world at your fingertips to create your own “windshield” to spark your motivation on a daily basis.

What type of greatness have you surrounded yourself with on your journey to learn new things?

Want to talk GREATNESS??  Here is Bruce Lee playing ping-pong with nun chucks in the 60’s (before Forrest Gump-ish special effects!).

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