Students: After completing this section, you should be able to...
tell the main reason why some people become more successful than others.
tell what attitudes and behaviors successful people share.
February 17, 1985 The Atlanta Journal Constitution
Study: Determination More Vital than Talent
LOS ANGELESA study of 120 of our country's top athletes, artists, and scholars has found that drive and determination, not great natural talent, led to their extraordinary success.
"We expected to hear tales of great natural gifts.", said University of Chicago professor Benjamin Bloom, who led the team of researchers who studied the careers of America's top performers in six fields: Olympic swimmers, tennis players, sculptors, concert pianists, mathematicians and neurologists.
"We didn't find that at all. Their mothers often said that it was the other child who showed more talent, " said Bloom.
The most brilliant mathematicians often said that they had trouble in school and were rarely the best in the class. Some world-class tennis players said their coaches had thought that they were too short to ever be outstanding, and the Olympic swimmers said they remembered getting regularly "clobbered" in
races as 10 year olds.
The research team conducted in-depth interviews with the top performers in the six fields, judged by national honors or championship awards. They also interviewed their families and teachers, hoping to learn how these individuals developed into such extraordinary performers.
Instead, the researchers heard accounts of an extraordinary drive and dedication through which, for example, a child would practice for several hours daily to gain his goal of becoming a concert pianist. A typical swimmer would tell of getting up at 5:30 every morning to swim two hours before school and then two hours after school to gain his or her goal of making the Olympic team.
The researchers found that motivation and drive seemed to explain their success, regardless of the field they looked at. They also found that parents had a key role, exposing their children at an early age to music, sports, or learning.
DRIVE
DETERMINATION
TALENT
PIANIST
RESEARCH
EXTRAORDINARY
MOTIVATION
Review:
1.According to the study, what was the main reason why some people became more successful than others?
2.What seems to be more important in the lives of successful people; high determination or great talent?
- True or False: Most successful people out-performed their peers, even during their school years.
- Thomas Edison and Albert Einstien were determined people. Do you agree? Why or why not?