The Talent Code: Chapters 1 & 2 summaries

Chapter 1: The Sweet Spot

Summary:
What is the secret ingredient behind the hotbeds of talent? The author, Daniel Coyle, goes on a journey to discover how talent hotspots spawn from unexpected places. He studies a variety of skills, using examples from Brazilian soccer players and training pilots, to show that talent is not born, but performance is based on the way that you practice. He discovers in these talent hotbeds that the practice was error-focused, which increased each performer's ability to improve at a much quicker rate.

Key Concept:
If you wish to improve in whatever activity you are engaging in, then you must commit yourself to the struggle of deep practice.

Key Terms:
Deep practice
Sweet Spot

Making Connections:
If I desire to have effective practice, then I need to participate in deep practice where I push myself to the edge and focus on overcoming errors.
Go through the music at a slower pace so as to identify errors and not neglect them.

Chapter 2: The Deep Practice Cell

Summary:
Myelin may seem boring to look at under a microscope, but it is the tissue in our brains where all the magic happens. Everything we do is a causes an electric signal to travel through a chain of neurons. Myelin is the insulation that wraps around those nerve fibers and increases the signal's speed, strength, and accuracry. The more the signal, or circuit, is used, the more myelin optimizes the circuit. When we participate in deep practice, we are growing myelin, which in turn will dramatically help us improve in that area until it becomes almost second nature. Everyone, genius or not, has the same capacity to grow myelin.

Key Concept:
"Practice creates myelin which makes perfect."

Key Terms:
Myelin
Circuits
Neuron

Making Connections:
Every time I practice, observe a performance, or am in a class, I should strive to participate in deep practice so that I can grow more myelin. These things will eventually become more second-nature.