TALENT, IPHONES, AND THE EXTRAORDINARY FORCE

I've been thinking a lot about the "TALENT" quotient lately. Currently reading the book: Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. Catching up on anything I can find that might provide the Student Athlete a cutting edge advantage in pursuing the extraordinaire.

I wonder, have you ever heard someone say, "You know talent when you see it?" Sure, but what is Talent? Where does Talent come from? And, how do you develop Talent to it's fullest potential? Tony Robbins, the "Why Guy", says, "The INVISIBLE FORCE of internal drive, ACTIVATED, is the most important thing in the world. EMOTION is the force of life."

The essential question is: What's driving you?

Robbins is a Performance Coach; an Expert in Leadership Psychology, and coaches clients ranging from CEO's to Olympic Athletes, on developing their full talent potential. He poses this penetrating sometimes confrontational question: What is it that is shaping your potential, to do something beyond yourself?

In an honest introspective look into the mirror of your soul, searching for answers to "what is shaping your potential to do something beyond yourself" one might learn,

What is driving us? 

WHAT IS

DRIVING YOU?

My research lead me to another book about TALENT:

Talent and The Secret Life of Teams

The author is, Terry Pettit, a retired NCAA Volleyball coach. Coach Pettit was the Head Coach of University of Nebraska’s women’s volleyball team and spanning twenty three years they won twenty-one Big 8 and Big 12 conference championships and lead the nation in both All American and Academic All American selections. He lead the Cornhusker program to forty-three NCAA tournament victories and the school’s first National Championship.

On July 11th, 2010, Coach Pettit wrote a story in his Blog titled, Why I am not buying an iPhone ...Yet. I am sure you will find it both humorous and thought provoking. Remember the number 140,000. t The answer to Robbins 1st question is wrapped around that number:

"What is shaping your potential
to do something beyond yourself?"

I was sitting in a gym last night watching my son and some high school student-athletes play pick up games. When I noticed one of them leave the court and go over to check his cell phone. Normal, right? But, in a few minutes there was a break in the action and he did it again. It wasn't very long and during another break, the player left the court to go check his cell phone again...Other players followed him. It stuck in my mind, and I could help but wonder what was pulling on the other end of that connection? Was there a problem? Was it his parent? Was he being distracted by something? Or, was he already, unengaged?

When I read Coach Pettit's blog, some of the answers to those questions became crystal clear. Today's student athlete faces more distractions than ever before. 140,000 possible applications to become potential distractors associated with iPhone/Smartphone service. One hundred and forty thousand distractions factored by the number of friends, relatives, and spamers. Wow! And that ain't nothing. Wait till you watch the video above to see what the future holds? Talk about Revolution and Distraction.

If we can learn how DISTRACTIONS shape our potential to do something beyond our self we can drive our self towards the Extraordinaire Performer and develop our full potential!

May the INVISIBLE FORCE be WITH YOU
Activated and Extraordinaire!