10 Tips To Talent Development

The start is the pillar and the motivational bedrock of skill acquisition. The initial motivational surge has to be strong enough to see you through the journey and channelling energy the right way.

- Dipankar Das

Talent has often been seen as mysterious and difficult to comprehend. We have often heard successful performers in sports, academia or, any sphere in life being described as 'very talented', the two words which have practically rendered the good performer beyond the realm of comprehension, emulation, or, even failure. By implication, talent is something you either have, or, are born with, or, you lack and unlikely to acquire, irrespective of the effort made by you towards acquiring it.

Advances in neurosciences indicate that it is possible to acquire talent, and, it is not something good performers inherit at birth; rather, it is something that is acquired through a strenuous and a dedicated effort. Talent is simply being extremely skilled, let us look at a series of tips over the ways to initiate the journey towards developing deep capabilities.

Getting Started

The start is the pillar and the motivational bedrock of skill acquisition. The initial motivational surge has to be strong enough to see you through the journey and channelling energy the right way.

Tip I

Create role models and connect with them. Studies show that even a brief or tenuous connection with a role model can vastly increase unconscious motivation. According to one study, in 1997 there were no South Korean women golfers. Today there are more than 40 world class Korean women golfers, inspired by Se Ri Pak, who won two major tournaments in 1998. As one of them put it, how it spurred them into action was to ask, "If she can do it, why can't I."

Tip II