What Olympic-level Swimmers Can Teach Us About Excellence

There are levels to a lot of things in life. Take college football for example. There are different football divisions: Division II, Division 1AA, and Division I (highest level). That said, the level of talent found in Division I ball is quite different than the level of talent found in Division II football. A Division II player would likely find it difficult to play against Division I players while a Division I player would likely find it easier to compete against Division II players.

I read a fascinating study by Daniel Chambliss titled “The Mundanity of Excellence” that analyzed the differences between Olympic and lower class levels of swimmers to describe why different levels exist in various domains of life and how one can level up in their chosen craft/field if desired. This article is a distillation of insights I gleaned from Daniel’s piece that I believe can help someone improve in their chosen craft(s).

Free video summary of this article and Chambliss's study is here.

About the author

Harrison holds a bachelor's in computer science from Georgia Tech and has been fascinated with psychology since his teen years. A former software engineer who's been studying anxiety, high performance, and mastery for the past 8 years, Harrison uses reason and logic to help people understand and eliminate their anxiety triggers.

He shares free anxiety insights at harrisonobiorah.com.

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