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  • The Talent Code

  • Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How.
  • Written by: Daniel Coyle
  • Narrated by: John Farrell
  • Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (121 ratings)

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The Talent Code

Written by: Daniel Coyle
Narrated by: John Farrell
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Publisher's Summary

What is the secret of talent? How do we unlock it? This groundbreaking work provides listeners with tools they can use to maximize potential in themselves and others.

Whether you’re coaching soccer or teaching a child to play the piano, writing a novel or trying to improve your golf swing, this revolutionary book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism.

Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds - from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York - Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything.

  • Deep Practice. Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice.
  • Ignition. We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment - call it passion - born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development.
  • Master Coaching. What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students.

These three elements work together within your brain to form myelin, a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movements and thoughts. Scientists have discovered that myelin might just be the holy grail: the foundation of all forms of greatness, from Michelangelo’s to Michael Jordan’s. The good news about myelin is that it isn’t fixed at birth; to the contrary, it grows, and like anything that grows, it can be cultivated and nourished.

Combining revelatory analysis with illuminating examples of regular people who have achieved greatness, this book will not only change the way you think about talent, but equip you to reach your own highest potential.

©2009 Daniel Coyle (P)2019 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"I only wish I'd never before used the words 'breakthrough' or 'breathtaking' or 'magisterial' or 'stunning achievement' or 'your world will never be the same after you read this book.' Then I could be using them for the first and only time as I describe my reaction to Daniel Coyle's The Talent Code. I am even willing to 'guarantee' that you will not read a more important and useful book in 2009, or pretty much any other year. And if all that's not enough, it's also 'a helluva good read'." (Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence)

"This is a remarkable - even inspiring - book. Daniel Coyle has woven observations from brain research, behavioral research, and real-world training into a conceptual tapestry of genuine importance. What emerges is both a testament to the remarkable potential we all have to learn and perform and an indictment of any idea that our individual capacities and limitations are fixed at birth." (Dr. Robert Bjork, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Psychology, UCLA) 

“Daniel Coyle digs deep into the core of the insatiable desire to become ‘better’. An amazing read with many practical applications for everyday life.” (Apolo Anton Ohno, Olympic gold medalist)

What listeners say about The Talent Code

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story telling and fluff

found this was just a lot of story telling and fluff,

Very little points per chapter.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Nothing New

If you have the desire to practice with focus and persistence, you will become skillful. That’s the book in a nutshell.

The narration was good.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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SO boring. And mostly about sports

Maybe if I was really into sports stats I would have liked this. It wasn't what I expected. It was SO boring with unnecessary detail and irrelevant information and ugh just awful. I didn't finish it

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Do the Deep Work

I wish there were more examples of how to do the deep work, when learning something new for yourself

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great book for developing skills

I liked all the different examples of deep learning because it showed this can be applied to a lot of life skills.

Entertaining listen, with great real life examples.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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interesting and insightful

Interesting research.
Lots of excellent examples and different areas to apply in every day life.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great read for growing your skills

This is a must read for anyone who is looking to improve in any area of their life.

There are lots of examples as well as a wealth of facts that help make sense of how our minds work.

Highly recommended

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Game Changer

The information of the book is absolutely interesting, schools should adapt techniques involving the code formula components. I felt that at some points, when information is given the speed of the reading should slow down, other than that the book is fantastic!

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  • Chad J Guidry
  • 2020-08-18

Okay read. Won’t read a second time

My opinion of the book: Long winded story with irrelevant pseudoscience to make a simple point that we can all learn and improve through focused, thoughtful doing.

Not 6 hours worth of relevance here.

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8 people found this helpful

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  • Sarah
  • 2020-06-16

Great Coaching Book

I read this for a coaching class for graduate school. It was great for my first coaching book. I'm not sure what he said about neurons in this book is true. I was telling someone in the science field about this book and they didn't agree with that. That aside, I learned quite a bit about how to communicate with my coachees more effectively. I enjoyed listening to all of his stories about effective coaching. Maybe I would have played sports if coaches in my school had more of the attitude that this book describes.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • Peter Joshua
  • 2019-09-30

Now, I must obtain THE TALENT CULTURE.

One must develop valuable skills to be valued by strangers. Don't waste time faking it.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Anne C. Harvey
  • 2021-02-04

Narrator ruins this.

Slow down! You ruin the material with your speed & fake intonation. Annoying & distracting. He must get a flat fee.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2020-05-20

informative and useful

I found this book to be insightful and interesting in an engaging way, and the reader does a great job. If you are looking for a thorough understanding of how and why some learn to excel and "have talent" while others struggle, this is a great look into the mechanics of building exceptional skill. Great information for those looking to master a craft or skill, be it carpentry, the piano, or a golf swing.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • 930TxTechEx
  • 2020-05-09

So Helpful!

I felt this book helped me grow regarding knowledge - how a person learns, how a person improves - and confidence. As a musician and a parent, I felt equipped to continually grow personally,’with my own talents, and to help my children with theirs. Excellent, helpful resource!

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3 people found this helpful

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  • Brian A Grant
  • 2020-05-31

Great for Ballet Masters!

So many things that will help me become a better Ballet Master! i can't recommend this enough to aspiring dance instructors and ballet masters like myself!

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2 people found this helpful

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  • RAFAEL E SUAZO
  • 2019-08-20

Simple and to the point!!

Loved it. straight up. good stories and practical tips. Recommending this book to my teams!

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  • Shahak
  • 2020-03-24

a bit repetative

struggled to finish. the storytelling was good, but all stories kind of returned to the same theory and reasearch

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  • Pablo espino
  • 2020-03-24

Educative

Learned a lot about how learning works, if that makes sense! Author explains well and breaks down information to make it chewable.

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1 person found this helpful