The Talent Code
Science has shown that the brain of a one year old and that of a thirteen year old are similar in that they produce a huge abundance of synapses or connecting points within the brain – basically to speed up and facilitate the learning of new skills.
The next few years of both stages is similar in that the synapses are pruned back to leave intact only the most used synapses. These remaining synapses are then coated in myelin to maximize their performance.
This is why toddlers are very good at learning complex stuff, like new languages.
Daniel Coyle’s book, The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born, It’s Grown, Here’s How explores the process how our brains almost literally “hard-wire” the coding for complex skills and talents, coating the synapse in our brains with myelin to maximize reaction speed and performance, etc.
Coyle studied what he has called the talent “hotbeds” in a variety of countries (Brazil for soccer, Russia for table tennis, and so on). His findings are backed by science and research. It’s one of those books you read and wish you had read it like ten, twenty years ago (when you had the chance to hone some skills or to revive a latent talent!)
How does a virtuoso piano player or top gymnast make it seem thoroughly easy and effortless to produce a beautiful or stunning result?
What explains the explosion of talent in a small place and at roughly the same time – e.g. the explosion of artistic talent in Florence, Italy in the 14th century, the explosion of football (soccer) talent in Brazil in the 1970s, and so on?
How does a poor, scantily educated British family in a remote village turn out three world-class writers – the Bronte sisters: Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, who wrote marvelous books before dying at a young age?
How does a penniless Russian tennis club with one indoor court create more top-twenty women players than the entire United States?
Daniel Coyle has answers to these questions and more… The teen years are a very good time to learn a complex sport, or to develop a latent talent – the skills learned become hard-wired for life.
This is a book we believe every teen should read because it will motivate them to want to identify the things they’re very good at – and to then invest time during these auspicious years to aim for excellence. It’s an interesting and captivating read too. Coyle studied and analyzed the exploits of the Bronte sisters, the Z-Boys (skateboarding), the Michelangelo System, and many other talent hotbeds.
The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind
Dr. Murphy’s book does a good job of answering questions such as the following…
Why is one man sad and another man happy?
Why is one man joyous and prosperous and another man poor and miserable?
Why is one man a genius in his work or profession while the other man toils and moils all his life without doing or accomplishing anything worthwhile?
We all have questions like that, including teenagers of course.
“This book will teach you the scientific way to tap the realm of infinite power within you, enabling you to get what you really want in life. You desire a happier, fuller and richer life. Begin to use this miracle-working power and smooth your way in daily affairs, solve business problems and bring harmony in family relationships.”
Parenting teenagers is tough and stressful for most parents. This book can help make a parent’s job easier, hopefully. But that aside, it’s full of good info for teens as they prepare for adulthood…
“Be sure that you read this book several times. The many chapters will show you how this wonderful power works, and how you can draw out the hidden inspiration and wisdom that is within you.
Learn the simple techniques of impressing the subconscious mind. Follow the new scientific way in tapping the infinite storehouse.” As we’ve seen above, the teenage years are a good time to develop lifelong habits and skills.
This book equips your teenager with habits and knowledge that will make a huge difference in their lives. It’s written in clear language such as you might find in a newspaper, so it’s not a tough read for even a thirteen-year-old.
Here are some topics covered in the book… Your Subconscious & The Wonders Of Sleep, Your Subconscious Mind & Happiness, Your Subconscious Mind & Harmonious Human Relations, How To Use Your Subconscious For Forgiveness, How To Stay Young In Spirit Forever, How Your Subconscious Removes Mental Blocks (and Fear).
Steve Jobs Biography
Steve Jobs biography is long, engaging and “un-put-downable.” His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values – and a particularly difficult parent-teen relationship, which ends well, fortunately.
“This is a book about the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. You might even add a seventh – retail stores – which Jobs did not quite revolutionize but did reimagine. In addition, he opened the way for a new market for digital content based on apps rather than just websites.”
This biography will make entertaining reading for most teenagers, seeing as Jobs has been involved in these technologies that today’s teens are hugely involved with. But other than that the book in the early chapters has some snippets of info about Jobs and his troubled relationship with his adoptive parents…
"My college fund came from my dad paying $50 for a Ford Falcon or some other beat-up car that didn't run, working on it for a few weeks, and selling it for $250—and not telling the IRS."
And this… One day his fourth-grade teacher asked him, "What is it you don't understand about the universe?" Jobs replied, "I don't understand why all of a sudden my dad is so broke."
According to the author, Walter Isaacson; Jobs recalled the incident vividly because it was his first realization that his father did not know everything. Then a more disconcerting discovery began to dawn on him: He was smarter than his parents. He had always admired his father's competence and savvy. “He was not an educated man, but I had always thought he was pretty damn smart. He didn't read much, but he could do a lot”
Typical, isn’t it? Most teenagers think their parent are “clueless”, as if puberty started with their generation!
Some teenagers may get epiphanies from reading this book that just may motivate them to take certain career paths in technology or marketing or industrial design, as Jony Ive found out…
“Unlike some designers, [Jonathan ‘Jony’ Ive] didn't just make beautiful sketches; he also focused on how the engineering and inner components would work. He had an epiphany in college when he was able to design on a Macintosh.
Said Jony...”I discovered the Mac and felt I had a connection with the people who were making this product," he recalled. "I suddenly understood what a company was, or was supposed to be." (He later became Steve Jobs' sidekick and head of design at Apple).
Teens who have grown up with iPads, iPhones, and iPods and MacBooks and all sorts of Apple products will find this Steve Jobs biography full of epiphanies such as this. Great read!
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