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Outliers the story of success summary
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Outliers the story of success summary
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Many people, like me, believe success generally presents itself in one of two ways, luck or hard work. Some of us get lucky and are born into a family of wealth and that pushes us ahead of our peers on the success rate while others spend hours of continuous practice to excel them beyond the average. Up until now I always believed success was what people made of their own situations. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell argues that this belief is only partially true. Many factors contribute to making a person an outlier through success, such as, uncontrollable opportunities or factors, hard work, community ties, practice, patronage and parentage. From my experience, I found that true success lies within the midst of all these …show more content…
contributions, it just takes the right person to find the perfect combination of them. Just like in Gladwell’s book, a big part of success comes from uncontrollable opportunities, luck and favor.
Gladwell uses the example of hockey players birthdays to show how the more successful players birthdays fell in the month of January, February, and March. They could not control the day or month they were born, but it gave them a slight advantages and better opportunities, just like my coach gave me an uncontrollable opportunity. Attending a small school made it difficult for me to make my own name, especially since I have older siblings that graduated a few years before me. My brothers set high expectations for me with school and sports. My brother balanced playing football and soccer along with his schoolwork and I was determined to walk in his footsteps. I planned my freshman schedule out to play soccer, the sport I grew up playing, and remain as a stellar student. However, my intentions were quickly altered when I was told I was becoming the kicker on the high school football team. This uncontrollable opportunity was unheard of in my tight knit town. Females were not allowed or accepted in the football realm, but I was an exception. My coach saw potential and made the decision to step outside the norms and ask me to be a part of an opportunity that most females will never get the chance to …show more content…
experience. Another way to be successful is putting in hard work. Gladwell discusses the studies done that show that practice is what it takes to become an expert. According in Outliers, it takes 10,000 hours of diligent practice to become an expert. Although I never reached the expert level of being a kicker, I did learn that hard work and practice truly do set the mediocre apart from the excellent. Walking onto a team with forty-five guys who grew up playing one of the toughest sports in our area was very intimidating. Truthfully, I was unaware of the common mechanics and fundamentals of football and learned after the first day of practice, it was going to be a difficult season. I spent the first week kicking two hours each night and rarely ever making an extra point. As much as I was hoping that I would be a natural gifted kicker, that was not the case. I realized in order to be able to compete with other kickers around my area, I had to be fully devoted to practice. My mornings before school consisted of going to the weight room to build more muscle, watching film on how to improve accuracy and distance, and stretching to increase my flexibility. The two-hour practices ended each night for everyone on the team, but mine lasted until the field darkened and I could not see the uprights any longer. Eventually my coaches noticed my hard work and started truly wanting me to excel. My countless hours inspired my coaches to find different ways for me to become a better football player. They spent hours with me after practice teaching me proper formation and the ideal way to find the sweet spot of the ball. I went to camps designed to engage beginners on the fundamentals of being a kicker. Many times, while my muscles ached and I felt fatigued from not resting, I thought about quitting. However, despite the hardships and the soreness I continued because the number of hours I practiced and the uncontrollable opportunity to play was more beneficial than quitting. One of the first contributors that Gladwell lists in the book is the connection of community. He among others, find the little town of Roseto to be thriving in their health while everyone else is dying years before the residents of Roseto. After studies, it is acknowledged the reason they continue to be healthy is because their strong reliance on community. Everyone is thriving together. In a sense, my little small town reminds me of Roseto. We believe there is no such thing as a stranger in our community, we watch out for one another and spend hours on end talking to each other. Having such a strong community who support one another made my decision to pursue the kicking position easier. From the very start I had a group of people who supported me. Often at my games, opposing players or fans have rude comments about me being a female playing football because they have not accepted the fact that more females are making their way into a “males” sport. Even though I have tough skin, it still hurt to listen to all the hateful remarks. However, my community stood up for me, and reminded me of all the accomplishments and stereotype barriers I was breaking. They encouraged me to keep pursuing football even if other teams did not like me playing. Sometimes when comments from ignorant opponents arose, I became physically, mentally, and emotionally shaken but I continued to remind myself that my community helped me be successful and I owe it to them to continue being the best football kicker I can be. Another example used throughout the book is the idea of parentage and patronage support which ties directly into support from the community.
Gladwell refers to major successful figures that we can recognize, such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, and shows how their family and friends supported them during or even before they became successful. Similar to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, I was surrounded by family and friends who set me up for success. My parents went out of their way to make sure I would be successful. They were always buying me new cleats and hiring personal trainers to come in and show me exercises to make me a better a kicker. I was very fortunate to have parents who wanted me to be successful almost as much I was wanted to be. In contribution, I surrounded myself with a great group of teammates and coaches who thrived on watching me become the best kicker I could be. Many nights my placement holder would spend hours working with me after practice until we got the perfect hold and kick multiple times in a row. My teammates and coaches cheered me on even when I disappointed myself. Occasionally, I would miss an extra point and come off the field upset, angry, or disappointed, but my team was there to support me. They told me what happened, how to fix it, and encouraged that I do not give up. Without my parentage and patronage my football career would not be as successful as it was
today. Unfortunately, we are taught from a young age that football is for boys and girls should be on the sideline cheering them on. However, that is not how my success story goes. I was sculpted to be unique, rare, the outlier. My success as a football player supports Gladwell’s claim that success comes from opportunities, community ties, practice, patronage and parentage. I discovered a factor on success that Gladwell fails to mention, gender. During my years of playing football I faced discrimination, sexism and misogyny. Our country is ingrained with the idea that women are less than men but slowly women are integrating themselves into traditionally male roles. I am a small part of the female population making the equality revolution happen. However, without my coach expecting me to become the kicker, spending all my time practicing to better myself, my community cheering me on or my family and friends supporting me, I would not have been a successful kicker. These contributions led me to be awarded athlete of the year within our county, earn state titles such as the first female to score within playoffs week and offered many prestigious scholarships. Although I decided not to further pursue football at a collegiate level, I walked away with a unique story of how an average girl became an outlier through a football story when she found the perfect combination to become successful.
Malcolm Gladwell, in the nonfiction book Outliers, claims that success stems from where you come from, and to find that you must look beyond the individual. Malcolm Gladwell develops and supports his claim by defining an outlier, then providing an example of how Stewart Wolf looked beyond the individual, and finally by giving the purpose of the book Outliers as a whole. Gladwell’s purpose is to explain the extenuating circumstances that allowed one group of people to become outliers in order to inform readers on how to be successful. The author writes in a serious and factual tone for the average person in society of both genders and all ethnicities who wants to become successful in life.
In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is no such thing as a self-made man, and that success is only the result of a person’s circumstances. However, throughout the novel Gladwell points out that your circumstances and opportunities only help you become successful if you are willing to take advantage of them and work hard. From a twelve year old living in the Bronx, to those who were born at just the right time to become millionaires, one thing is the same throughout; these people because successful because they seized the opportunities they were given. The advantages and opportunities that came from their circumstances would not be important if they had not grasped them. Every successful man is self made, because he has seized the
Another point Gladwell brings forth is the notion of one’s upbringing, race, and ethnicity can be a factor behind their success. And lastly, pursuing meaningful work will cause one to continue working with their skill and not give up. Legacy is a collection of examples that support the idea: values are passed down from generation to generation, which may cause a certain group of people to be more persistent in a skill, or occupation. Although the author, Malcolm Gladwell did not major in sociology or psychology in college, his credibility for Outliers comes from his background in journalism.
Malcolm Gladwell is a canadian-english journalist, speaker, and bestselling author. In his bestselling book “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell discusses success and what patterns correlate with it. He states that how much time you put into a certain activity, specifically 10,000 hours, can put you in a elite level of proficiency. This in turn can give someone the tools to allow them the ability to be successful. Using historical citations, patterns, and real life examples, Gladwell forms his 10,000 hour rule. Due to his knowledgeable yet calm tone Gladwell seems to show credibility. His intended audience could be people who enjoy statistics or people who want to be successful and find possible ways to do so. Gladwell uses a logical appeal to show the patterns he has found through his studies of success. He supports his claim with overwhelming statistics which back it. He also uses similes to help better understand how he can relate the patterns he has found for the elite in a certain activity to other things. Foil is probably Gladwell's best means of convincing the reader to his thesis of the 10,000 hour rule. He uses Foil to compare success and we define to legends such as Bill Gates The Beatles and Bill Joy. Overall Gladwell uses Logos, similes, and foils to support his claim of the 10,000 hour rule.
The famous retired basketball player Michael Jordan sees eye to eye with Gladwell vision of success. According to Michael Jordan “ I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career.I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 Times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again that is why I succeed.” by using facts and figures Michael Jordan highlights all his failures and how he grew from them and that to get to success you need work and
In addition, these examples of Kobe Bryant’s Hard work and dedication also relates back to Malcom Gladwell’s book “Outliers”. One of the reasons why it relates back to Outliers is because one of Gladwell’s keys to success involves both hard work and dedication. The 10,000-hour rule.It is clear to see that a huge contributor to Kobe Bryant’s success in the NBA was the amount of hard work and dedication he put towards basketball. However, it wasn’t the only thing that lead to his success in the
The definition of success varies around the world, but according to Malcolm Gladwell its achievement can be broken down into a few components. Although Gladwell never truly establishes credibility in his book Outliers, he still backs up his proposed theories with reputable studies and sources which intrigue the audience to keep reading.The purpose of Outliers was to enlighten people about the different elements of success while also informing them of real life situations where seemingly less than likely people beat the odds and became the powerful figures that they are today. The intended audience is anyone who is looking to become successful or who is perhaps interested in the idea of success itself and wishes to learn more about it. Understandably, a secondary audience could be high school students who are about to venture out into the world on their own because with this book they will hopefully start paying attention to different factors of their lives and seizing opportunities that they may have otherwise passed up. Malcolm Gladwell talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule and also how I.Q. does not amount to much without creativity. He also speaks of how chance opportunity comes into play and that the distant background of a person still reflects how they handle situations in their present day life. Gladwell’s Outliers successfully informs the reader about the different components that add up to success with probable theories and credible studies to make for an interesting and motivational read.
Malcolm Gladwell’s overall purpose of Outliers: The Story of Success is that success is largely determined by an individual’s socioeconomic and sociocultural environment, and individual ambition, effort, or talent, are less significant, contrary to the societal notions associated with success. In other words, success is not something that someone randomly gained; success is earned through opportunities that develop dedication, interest, and skill over time. By doing this, will one become an outlier, or “something that is situated away or classed differently from a main or related body,” (Gladwell 3) that distinguishes great from good and best from great, as exemplified by “The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that the and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals”, musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did.” (Gladwell 39) Gladwell also acknowledges societal norms such that “All of the fourteen men and woman on the list above had vision and talent,” (Gladwell 62-63) to assert hard work, ability, et cetera can lead to success, but a social environment that offers such opportunities immensely increases the likelihood of success.
When I was accepted into the University of Oklahoma, I was not aware of the tradition or prestige that the football team carried. Moreover, I had no idea about the honor it was to don the crimson and cream in the arena of athletics. And, I never envisioned rooming with them. I enjoyed sports, but I loved reading and writing more. Initially, I was focused on building a collegiate career that one day would propel me to my goal of studying law. Yet, the more time I spent interacting with the athletes, the more parallels I noticed between their personalities and mine. Their diligence, perseverance and compassion were all traits that I could identify with since they were reflective of me. For the most part, the majority of the athletes were hungry to achieve and they desired knowledge at all costs; a combination that still resonates with me today.
Occasionally, it is important to be born during certain times of the year in order to become better at a task that is being performed. In other words, people may have advantages depending on the time of the year they are born. They practice more for a sport or get further help for school. Gladwell says that “A boy who turns ten on January 2, then, could be playing alongside someone who does not turn ten until the end of the year…a twelve month gap in age represents enormous differences in physical maturity”(24). What he means is that a young boy born in January may have a greater physical advantage than a boy born in December when it comes to playing hockey. This example can be applied to any other sport. When the child starts conditioning at 6, his friend will be 5 and still to young to condition giving the older kid the advantage to play better. Every country arranges the cut off dates differently according to the sport and the season it is played in. Gladwell says, “The cutoff date for almost all non-school baseball leagues in the United States is July 31, with the result that more major league players are born in August than any other month”(26). If players are...
It’s the triumphs as well as the defeats, that I will remember most about my life when I look back in thirty years. If I can look back and say, “I didn’t think I could ever accomplish this, but I gave it my all.” Pursuing the next challenge along with being a well-rounded, compassionate person will allow me to consider my life a success in thirty years. Nothing in my life emulates this attitude towards what I will consider a success, in terms of pushing my limits, in thirty years, than my current pursuit of collegiate level sports.
The article “How to Be a Success” by Malcom Gladwell speaks about how success is something that can be achieved if you put the time and work into it, and how success is not achieved overnight but rather through long hours of constant practice. His article is targeted to more than one group of individuals. The groups of individuals that his article targets are teenage students, young adults, adults, people who want to become an expert, or want to succeed in something they have an interest in and in general society. Another article also related to the success of an individual “An A+ Student Regrets His Grades” by Afraj Gill describes how in society many schools focus more on students’ grades, rather than their learning, and how a student is
The author's purpose in writing is to tell us that that we all need to believe in ourselves so we can do better. In the book, Nick is very unconfident when he is called to the varsity team. He is very wrapped up in how bad his throwing is going. He is unable to throw a ball very good, this is making him even more unconfident. His teammates aren’t helping him throw the ball any better. Only a couple of his teammates are trying to help him get better at throwing. Most of his teammates are getting mad at him when he makes a bad throw and saying that he is a really bad catcher. Then, every time he throws the ball he is worried that it is going to be a bad throw and is worried the he isn’t good enough to make a good throw. His coach is the only
In Chapter 8 and 9 of Outliers: The Story of Success, Gladwell exams some of the ways that Asian and American students learn math, arguing that some of the principles in the US education system should be reconsidered. I generally agree with Gladwell’s point of view. I believe in two ways, students ' principal spirit and the length of students’ studying, the US education system leaves much to be desired, though an overhaul is in progress.
As stated in my introductory paragraphs, both authors examine the academic motivation of student athletes, but focus their arguments on different aspects. Since both authors agree on the fact that athletics make big impacts, it makes it harder to choose one argument over the other. Both Flynn and Herbert D. Simon’s have similar ideas in which they discuss, but they add their own opinions. Both authors have a strong agreement but the way they present their ideas are completely diverse.