Getting Better at Getting Better

Monday, March 9th, 2015

James Surowiecki (The Wisdom of Crowds) notes that we’re seeing the mainstreaming of excellent habits — or excellence habits:

In the late nineteen-fifties, Raymond Berry, the great wide receiver for the Baltimore Colts, was famous for his attention to detail and his obsessive approach to the game: he took copious notes, he ate well, he studied film of his opponents, he simulated entire games by himself, and so on. But, as the journalist Mark Bowden observed, Berry was considered an oddball. The golfer Ben Hogan, who was said to have “invented practice,” stood out at a time when most pro golfers practiced occasionally, if at all. Today, practicing six to eight hours a day is just the price of admission on the P.G.A. Tour. Everyone works hard. Everyone is really good.

This goes beyond athletics to chess and classical music, too.

Leave a Reply