Ever wonder why some people like Warren Buffett can make money about as easily as Michael Jordan can shoot a basketball? And, do you get tired, as I do, of hearing people describing those aforementioned superstars of the boardroom and the court as being born with supernatural abilities apart the rest of us mere mortals?
Just as your genes do very little to influence your health, they're not responsible for helping you shape your financial acumen or, for that matter, your ability to shoot a basketball either.
So why do some people like Jordan become a king among basketball players, and others don't? Achieving excellence has everything to do with the pursuit of a goal -- meaning hard work and committing tons of time to put that knowledge into practice -- and not a consequence of possessing innate gifts, according to an extensive British study.
Making a conscious choice to desire nothing less in your life than the best takes a huge commitment and a great amount of time devoted to "deliberate practice," a regimen designed to improve performance, so that what people believe are extraordinary talents are merely skills you've honed better than others to the nth degree.
If anything folks, all of us have the ability to succeed, as long as we can get a handle on our fears and other negative emotions, and I've found no better tool than the Emotional Freedom Technique to help me do just that.
CNN Money.com October 19, 2006