This is an offering of thoughts on the science and psychology of elite human performance.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a professional tennis player; I was awed by the drama and the skills of Borg, Connors, McEnroe and later by Edberg and Agassi. I wanted to play a part in that sport at the highest level. But, I didn’t. At some point in my early twenties I decided that I didn’t have what it took. And now, a bit later on in my life, I’m wondering why.

I think each of us had something we wanted to be great at, but most of us eventually made other choices. Why? What caused us to stop short of pursuing that thing? And what are the elite performers: the athletes, the artists, the scientists doing and thinking differently than the rest of us?