Chapter 1: The Sweet Spot

Recent findings in the field of neuroscience have unearthed evidences of "hacking human potential". Author Daniel Coyle relates his understanding of skill through something he deems "deep-practice". The difference between practice and deep-practice can be summarized thusly: the difference between being passively handed information as opposed to struggling to comprehend a concept or accomplish a task. Through struggle, and sometimes failure, individuals are able to practice with more awareness which in turn physically improves on that persons skill. With struggle and persistence, a great amount of time practicing can be summarized in a matter of a few minutes. The author offers examples of "hotbeds" of talent around the world which draw from the principle of struggle, failure, and success. In each of these hotbeds the author has found an environment that promotes more participation, more struggle, more persistence, and controlled consequence. This is the sweet spot, the area of practice that an potentially accelerate skill adaptation to incredible speeds.

Key Concepts:
Practice makes perfect.
Struggle and failure are important aspects of improving skill.

Key Terms:
The Sweet Spot
Deep Practice
Struggle
The Blue Box
Futsal

Making Connections:
Sometimes in my own life, and in my own practice, being afraid to fail has impeded me immensely while on the same token and without me realizing it, struggle and sometimes failure combine to be the key in my greatest success. Its not just routinely going through the motions that makes me a more skilled individual. It is the hardship and the difficulty that builds my talent. By being persistant and not turning away from difficulty, I can reach all of my goals more efficiently.

Chapter 2: The Deep Practice Cell:

Chapter 2 of Coyles' book focuses more on the mechanics behind deep practice as explained before. Our brains are made up of neurons, synapses, and a whole lot of what used to be considered dead weight. (grey matter). Recently scientists have realized some of the functions of these cells. Every movement, thought, and feeling, can be described as an electric pulse being sent through neurons and synapses in the brain. Every time you move your leg, there is an electric pulse telling your leg to move, but there is also another thing happening. Other cells called Oligodendrocytes react to the electrical impulses being sent through these neurons by wrapping cytoplasm around the neuron to help protect it and insulate it. By continually practicing in the sweet spot, these "Oligos" attempt to improve future responses by insulating the tracks in your brain. This in turn provides a stronger, faster pulse to travel on these skill highways. The wrapping found around the neurons is called Myelin, and works much like building on a muscle in your arm for instance. The more practice the more myelin. Without practice the circuit is not fired, the Oligos cannot sense a pulse, and the myelin is not built upon. All across your brain, individuals have areas of skill where myelin is being created and myelin is lying dormant providing for a weaker or stronger electrical charge.

Key Concepts:
Skill is, in essence, how much myelin you have built around any specific electrical pathway in your brain.
Myelin cannot unwrap, which makes breaking habits extremely difficult.

Key Terms:
Mylin
Neurons
Nerve
Synapses
Myelination
Oligodendrocytes

Making Connections:
Struggle is only myelin wrapping itself around my neurological skill highways. My goal should be building as much myelin around my neurons as possible, because in doing so I am able to send stronger faster electrical impulses to and from my brain, which can make me a more skilled individual.