Topline wellness: Unlock your potential
Winning line: Success isn't always down to innate talent. So says Adam Grant, an organisational psychologist, Ted speaker and bestselling author, whose new book Hidden Potential* will help even the most average Joes achieve great things.
Start line: When psychologists investigated the roots of exceptional talent among musicians, scientists, artists and athletes, they discovered only a few had been child prodigies.
Adrenaline: Counterintuitively, the thing researchers found marked successful people out was a willingness to make mistakes. For example, successful polyglots (people who speak multiple languages) are happy to visit a foreign country and speak to locals before feeling 100 per cent ready.
'Comfort in learning is a paradox,' says Grant. 'You can't become truly comfortable with a skill until you've practiced it enough to master it.'
Success isn't always down to innate talent. So says Adam Grant (pictured), an organisational psychologist, Ted speaker and bestselling author
Hardline: Don't aim for flawless. In fact, says Grant, 'if perfectionism were a medication, the label would alert us to common side effects. Warning: may cause stunted growth'.
Credit line: Set a mistake budget – the minimum number of mistakes you'll make a week. When you view stumbles as a healthy part of the process, you'll improve faster.
Frown line: Beware 'boreout' – burnout caused by obsessive slog. Counter this by introducing novelty into practice. For example, when pharmacy school students did improvisation classes to help them pick up on non-verbal cues, they subsequently performed better in patient examinations.
Helpline: Want to improve your performance? Ask others for forward-thinking advice over backward-looking feedback – you want coaches not critics.
Back-up line: Remember the old saying 'a setback is just the setup for a comeback'? Grant agrees that progress is not always linear – if you feel stuck on a project, sometimes you need to reverse and try a different road.
Basketball provides the proof: one study found that when the star player was injured, a team's performance initially suffered, but they won even more games than before once the player returned. Why? Because in the meantime the team had to go back to square one and search for new paths to success, becoming even better in the process.
Sideline: Think you're too busy for a hobby? It could make you better at your day job, says Grant. Importantly, though, you need to choose a completely different field for your pastime – think accountants doing pottery.
When psychologists investigated the roots of exceptional talent among musicians, scientists, artists and athletes, they discovered only a few had been child prodigies (stock image)
Guideline: 'The best way to learn something is to teach it' says Grant. This is known as the 'tutor effect' – sharing your knowledge reinforces it.
Night line: Turns out it really does help to dream big. When economists tracked thousands of people from birth until age 55, the aspirations they formed as adolescents foreshadowed how their adult lives would unfold, even when factors such as income and parents' education was taken into account.
Strapline: Got imposter syndrome? Ditch: 'I don't know what I'm doing. It's only a matter of time until everyone finds out' and replace it with: 'I don't know what I'm doing yet. It's only a matter of time before I figure it out.'
It's far more likely that you're underestimating yourself than it is others overestimating you.
*PUBLISHED BY EBURY, £25. TO ORDER A COPY FOR £21.25 UNTIL 12 NOVEMBER, GO TO MAILSHOP.CO.UK/BOOKS OR CALL 020 3176 2937. FREE UK DELIVERY ON ORDERS OVER £25.
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