Like many young guys, I pictured myself as a great baseball player when I grew up. Unfortunately, I had three skill challenges: I couldn’t hit well, I was slow, and I couldn’t throw the ball where I wanted it to go.
But that never kept me away from reading biographies about my favorite players. I marveled at their skills, and wondered what separated great players from the good ones. Sports biographies reminded me that the superstars shared these traits:
= Dedication — The great ones discovered early that they had gifts, and committed themselves to using those gifts.
= Specialization — If they had one stand-out skill, they practiced that skill constantly.
= Replication — Their goal was to excel in a specialty, and excel day after day throughout their careers.
The secret: Have you ever heard that saying that “sports are like the game of life?” I think that’s true. Dedication, specialization, and replication should help most of us excel in our chosen careers.
