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Peak

Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

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About this listen

Mozart wasn’t born with perfect pitch.

Most athletes are not born with any natural advantage.

Three world-class chess players were sisters, whose success was planned by their parents before they were even born.

Anders Ericsson has spent thirty years studying The Special Ones, the geniuses, sports stars and musical prodigies. And his remarkable finding, revealed in Peak, is that their special abilities are acquired through training. The innate ‘gift’ of talent is a myth. Exceptional individuals are born with just one unique ability, shared by us all – the ability to develop our brains and bodies through our own efforts.

Anders Ericsson’s research was the inspiration for the popular ‘10,000-hour rule’ but, he tells us, this rule is only the beginning of the story. It’s not just the hours that are important but how you use them. We all have the seeds of excellence within us – it’s merely a question of how to make them grow. With a bit of guidance, you’ll be amazed at what the average person can achieve.

The astonishing stories in Peak prove that potential is what you make it.

 Memory Improvement Personal Development Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Stress Management Inspiring

Critic reviews

Most “important” books aren’t much fun to read. Most fun books aren’t very important. But with Peak, Anders Ericsson (with great work from Robert Pool) has hit the daily double. After all, who among us doesn’t want to learn how to get better at life? A remarkable distillation of a remarkable lifetime of work (Stephen J. Dubner, bestselling author of FREAKONOMICS)
Offer[s] an optimistic anti-determinism that ought to influence how people educate children, manage employees and spend their time.
This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about. (Seth Godin, author of LINCHPIN)
The science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work a person can achieve: to become a little bit better each day. (Daniel Coyle, bestselling author of THE TALENT CODE)
Ericsson's research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. He has found that what separates the best of us from the rest is not innate talent but simply the right kind of training and practice. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world. (Joshua Foer, bestselling author of MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN)
An invaluable exploration into the details of what makes the difference between simply going through the motions (for 10,000 hours!) and practising to reap significant improvement. A thought-provoking and extremely useful book. (Harriet Beveridge, author of WILL IT MAKE THE BOAT GO FASTER?)
His ultimate message is an uplifting, optimistic one and should be applauded. (Nick Rennison)
Invaluable. (David Didau)
The work of the academic psychologist Anders Ericsson has inspired half a dozen popular accounts of the relationship between talent and effort. This year, with the science writer Robert Pool, he produced a book of his own, Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (Bodley Head), which may be the liveliest and clearest of the lot. (Leo Robson)
The clear style helps cast new light on a subject I thought I understood. I found his discussion of mental representations and the distinction between purposeful and deliberate practice especially illuminating
All stars
Most relevant
Empowering. The best way to improve examined. Weakness: doesn't answer the question fully about what environmental factors supercede practice and doesn't consider the work world much. Overall worth a listen, very well read and laid out arguments in a meaningful fashion

These are the guys that wrote Gladwell's rhymes

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I listened to this while I am pursuing mastery in a field, I am a long way off but using the theory of the book in practice I can make best use of my time.

There are lots of examples in this book and they serve to back up the authors main research which is that how you practice will greatly influence your results. It will raise debate when speaking to others about the main line of thinking; as any good book should.

The book could be shorter and more succinct but that's how it's been written and I would loathe to listen to a summarized version in case there was a point which spoke to me but was omitted.

The narration was good with a few suspect accents thrown in when quoting. It added to the book and made me chuckle in places making the whole thing a pleasure to listen to.

Interesting theory.

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It has many information about how to learn and what is possible with approach presented by author. Highly recommended this book for all parents.

Great book, changed many of my beliefs

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overall dont know how much book will influence my future work but atleast i learned my new phone number and new social security number that helped in many situations

helped to learn numbers

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An interesting concept, using science to back-up a learning method allowing anyone to become an expert.
I have applied this method to my training and found it very useful indeed.
If you enjoy having many examples to illustrate a point, this book is for you! I found it became a little long-winded after a while - but I prefer concise to-the-point books.

Interesting and useful but a little long-winded.

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