(edited by Grammarly.com)
Yesterday I briefed the book ‘Talent is Overrated,’ by Geoff Colvin. In his book, Geoff says that the keys to being remarkable are basically to perceive, know, and remember more than most people. He also said that remarkable people have the ability to think in chunks and to look ahead. He gave anecdotes:
- Best chess players see the whole board or groups of pieces
- Blocking top typists from seeing ahead results in mediocre typing
Geoff’s biggest point was to discuss stories and findings that prove “practice makes perfect.” He explains that not all “practice makes perfect” and that simulations or focuses on relevant skills or parts of the process are what makes the biggest difference. In an example, he talked about an athlete that did: weights to improve strength; trail running for control and agility; and sprints for the “ability to explode.”
I found it ironic that Brian Tracy (in his book GOALS) made the same points about practice and goals towards a process as Geoff did. Brian says to, “set goals about the parts of the process of reaching the outcome, and not just the outcome.” He gave the example that to win the order you need to 1.) focus on understanding the customers needs and 2.)listen for the customer’s main points. Both Geoff and Brian also discussed visualization as effective at reaching goals and becoming remarkable, and here are some resources I found on how to visualize: http://www.silvalifesystem.com/articles/visualization-techniques/visualization-exercises/, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-niles-phd/visualization-goals_b_878424.html, and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA1T6t9tF-k.
This book brings me back to my transparency on my weakness in grammar and my goal to get better at it. Jennifer Lazarow of UT says, “Proofreading skills and correct grammar and punctuation are crucial to building credibility and gaining respect from employers, colleagues, and customers.” I agree with her and think my goal is part of my ultimate goal to become a leader or manager in sales or marketing. For this reason, I continue to blog and drive
myself at this. Here are some specific things I am working on as well as relevant links that I found on using:
- Homonyms: http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/HomonymChart.htm
(I like the additional links on here as well) - Titles: http://www.writingsimplified.com/2010/03/titles-when-to-italicize-underline-or.html(Words Fail Me is a book with a chapter “Are Your Eggs Ready to Hatch?” ) and http://homeworktips.about.com/od/mlastyle/a/titles.htm
- Preceed vs proceed or follow: http://www.ehow.com/how_2104863_use-precede-proceed-correctly.html
- Commas: http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp
- Its vs. it’s: http://garyes.stormloader.com/its.html
- Hypens: http://oxforddictionaries.com/page/punctuationhyphen
- Forward slashes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(punctuation)
(use a comma or the word or instead)
In writing this article, I came across some resources to
review:
- Jennifer’s Austin class: http://www.utexas.edu/ce/pdc/courses/grammar-punctuation-proofreading/
- Grammarly.com, the “world’s most accurate grammar checker.”
- @GrammarGirl offers a website (http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/)
and many books: http://www.google.com/#q=grammar+girl’s+book&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=DYWxTp2kGZPjsQLwteywAQ&ved=0CEYQrQQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=e265bf8927b22004&biw=1073&bih=589 - Leslie of Ewriteonline.com offers course and private help
- Online Class ‘Grammar and Punctuation 101’: http://www.universalclass.com/i/crn/33791.htm
Then of course, there is my new favorite song on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo0LbAItFLs(lol).
I will close this article by referring to Geoff’s discussion that the leading organizations grow their people. This article gives an example of the goal of a passionate and driven worker. It was helpful to be told I sucked at writing by my last employer. It would have been more constructive to find adequate sources, like Leslie, to help me. These circumstances taught me a lot that I will refer to when I become a manager. I realize that people need to want to help themselves in order to be helped. In my situation, that obviously was not the case. Their criticism prompted me to seek out Leslie of Ewriteonline.com myself. Remember I am also extremely A type, so it is necessary to know that Leslie says my writing is average.
