Today I want to very quickly share with you one of my very favorite books of all time, and we’re also going to talk about windshields.
If we’ve done our math correctly, this is episode 150 of our video blog, and so for this episode I actually want to do something really simple but very important. This is one of my favorite books of all time called The Little Book of Talent. It’s by this gentleman named Daniel Coyle. If you have never read this book, let me first of all start by saying you’re missing out.
You need to pick this book up and you need to read it. It’s really simple. It’s very easy to understand and it is literally one of the best road maps I have ever encountered to understanding how to become better at anything that is of interest to you.
Now, I also mentioned windshields, and the reason that I mention that is that in the very first chapter he talks about this idea of stare at who you want to become. He uses this metaphor that says, you know, as you go through your life you have a windshield in front of you and that windshield is filled with different types of people. The question is, are the people that are filling your windshield of your life, are they promoting growth in you. Are they serving as models for you to get better the things that are really of interest to you.
The reason he talks a lot about this is that in talent hotbeds around the world, if you’re looking at a great tennis academy, you’re looking at a fantastic music conservatory, one of the things he found in his research for this book is that the up-and-comers spend an inordinate amount of time looking at people who are better than them. They find models and he said, “stare at them.”
It’s not look at them but stare at them. The whole idea is that if you see someone that does something that you have always wanted to do you have to look at them intently. You have to discover how it is that they think, how they move, and then learn how to emulate that in your own practice.
Very simple, 150th episode we’re interested in getting better here at Z-Health and I think you are as well. If you haven’t read this book, please check it out. The second thing, think about your windshield. Think about who you’re filling your windshield with and, literally, are they promoting growth in you? Are they serving as models for where you want to go?
Now, all that I’m going to ask you to do after this video is pretty simple. I’m going to ask two things. Number one, since this is episode 150, that means for almost three years every week we’ve been standing in front of the camera trying to share in very short order information, exercises, et cetera, that are useful for you.
If you have specific requests for things that you would like to see from here, please either email us at info@zhealth.net or put it in the comment section below the video, because that could be really useful for me. I personally prefer to do series, so if you have questions or requests please send those.
The second thing I would love to hear is, if you have specific movement models, athlete models that have always inspired you, I love to hear about them. Also in the comment section, if you have someone that you always look at, you have a great YouTube video that you go, “You know what, I watch this every day before I train and it gets me pumped up and it gives me some ideas about what I can do,” please include that, as well, because I’m also always looking for ever better models.
Thank you for sticking with us for this whole time. I hope you continue to enjoy the blogs. Why don’t you check out the book also. Please feel free to email if you have questions or comments. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.
