Continuous Learning
I just bought this book and I’m anxious to read it. Its about a guy in his 60’s that decided to see how good he could get at tennis.
From Amazon: An award-winning author attempts to become a nationally competitive tennis player — at the age of sixty — in this “soulful meditation on aging, companionship, and the power of self-improvement” (The Wall Street Journal).
I’m only 46 but I’ve been working to become a continuous learner over the past few years. I’ve taken guitar lessons, tennis lessons, adopting some reading habits, adopted some consistent diet and exercise habits and experimented with lots of different routines and habits. Learning and curiosity is widely praised but seldomly practiced.
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I’m fascinated by becoming world class at something. There might be some tricks to becoming the best in the world, but becoming great at something isn’t a mystery. It just takes focused, dedicated effort. You need to do the reps. Deep work. 10,000 hours. Deliberate practice. Embrace the grind.
I read a paper years ago on the mundanity of excellence. It followed swimmers to identify the differences between average performers and high performers. The conclusion was basically that the high performers were more dedicated to the boring, mundane and focused work necessary to get better. They weren’t putting in hours for the sake of checking the box but they were working on specific things. They were intentional. And they enjoyed the grind.
