And yes, practice does make perfect (Tips for the GMAT and for life...)

Steve Levitt writes in the NYT that practise and determination has more of an impact on performance than does genes and hereditary factors.

This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one. In other words, whatever innate differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person "encodes" the information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.

Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task — playing a C-minor scale 100 times, for instance, or hitting tennis serves until your shoulder pops out of its socket. Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.

This reinforces the advice given to me by one of my mentors -- a former deputy attorney-general turned law professor -- that practice and discipline are the keys to success. Professor M had never lost a case in his entire career as a trial attorney and prosecutor, and he attributed his winning streak to "always researching and studying the case more than the opposing council."

And for those of you studying for the GMAT, remember to set specific goals, evaluate your weaknesses and to then work on fixing those weaknesses.

Their work, compiled in the "Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance," a 900-page academic book that will be published next month, makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers — whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming — are nearly always made, not born. And yes, practice does make perfect. These may be the sort of clichés that parents are fond of whispering to their children. But these particular clichés just happen to be true.

I see this everyday in the dojang -- my students who practise at home -- are much better than the students who come in once or twice a week and just go thru the motions.