Diary reflection 5Excellence is a characteristic that some people in this world have been able to acquire. It is a seemingly, somewhat common phenomenon in today's world. We may not see this excellence firsthand in everyday life, but our world is full of excellent people, some are athletes or movie stars and others are scientists and business tycoons. All these people have achieved what can commonly be defined as excellence but they have all taken different paths to get to where they are today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayI don't believe there is a "common thread" that connects all the people of excellence in our world. There are a huge number of factors that contribute to what people do with their lives and where they end up; and these factors are different for every single individual on the planet. To say that there is a common thread among all people of excellence would be to say that anyone with that particular characteristic would be an excellent person. For example, many might say that motivation could be this common thread, however there are millions of highly motivated people in this world who have not and will never achieve “excellence”. To give a concrete example of this, Ralph Nader has been running for president since 1992, but has never won a presidential election. This shows that someone who has a strong motivation or drive towards something may not achieve it. I also believe that every decision a person makes in their life will either lead them to excellence or not. That said, if there was a common thread of excellence it would mean that all people of excellence would make exactly the same choice in any given situation, which is simply not possible. The notion of a common thread formulated by Ericsson in chapter 1 appears to be a “deliberate practice”. I believe practice is a very important part of achieving excellence, but I still believe there is no common thread, not even practice. I believe there are people in this world who have a natural ability for certain skills. Some people are born with a higher IQ or athletic ability and this leads them to excel with much less practice than those without these advantages. The nature of excellence in sport would be the ability to become the world champion of a specific sport; and this is achieved through dedication, motivation, practice, athleticism, training and many other factors. All of these components combined (along with other life experiences) will lead to achieving excellence in the field of athletics. If there is one most important component to achieving athletic excellence, I believe it is natural athleticism. Without the natural ability to be an athlete, all the training and determination in the world is completely useless. People born with natural athleticism have a great advantage over those born without it. Those born with this trait can often excel in multiple sports, perhaps not at an international level in many sports but above average in some and international excellence in one or two. For example, Michael Jordan, perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, can be considered a natural athlete. After his basketball career, Jordan managed to join a professional baseball team for over a year, a feat that many baseball players never achieve. The example of Michael Jordan is one of many that shows that natural athleticism is very important in sports and is probably the most important component of the field..