What it Takes

Why do certain people put themselves through the years of intensive daily work that eventually makes them world-class great? The answers depend on your response to two basic questions: What do you really want? And what do you really believe?

What you want - really, deeply want - is fundamental because deliberate practice is an investment: The costs come now, the benefits later. The more you want something, the easier it will be for you to sustain the needed effort until the payoff starts to arrive. But if you're pursuing something that you don't truly want and are competing against others whose desire is deep, you can guess the outcome.

The evidence offers no easy assurances. It shows that the price of top-level achievement is extraordinarily high. Maybe it's inevitable that not many people will choose to pay it. But the evidence shows also that by understanding how a few become great, all can become better.

Geoff Colvin, Talent is Overrated

7 Free Webinars this Week about AI, Journalism, Social Media & more

Tue, Nov 14 – Women Making News

What: Three of the most powerful women in journalism talk about battling disinformation, protecting reporters in war zones and leading influential news organizations during one of the most challenging times in modern media. 

Who: Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, President, CBS News;  Alessandra Galloni, Editor in Chief, Reuters; Rashida Jones, President, MSNBC, Sally Buzbee, Executive Editor, The Washington Post.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Washington Post

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Wed, Nov 15 - The Role of Generative AI in Enhancing Data Storytelling

What:  Leverage the power of Generative AI and our low-code platform to make sense of your data and more importantly, narrate a data story that aligns well with your questions and the problem at hand.

When: 9 am, Pacific

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Microsoft & iLink Digital

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Wed, Nov 15 - The Future of Corporate Communications

What: Valuable, data-driven perspectives that will empower you to make informed decisions and navigate the ever-changing corporate communications landscape successfully.

Who: Margot Edelman, GM of Edelman; Steve Barrett, PR Week; Yanique Woodall, CVS Health; Alex Thompson, Global Chair of Edleman; Arelle Patirck, Ariel Investments

When: 4 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Institute for Public Relations

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Wed, Nov 15 - Children on Social Media and the Multistate Lawsuit Against Meta

What: A discussion of the lawsuit filed by over 40 state attorneys general against Meta, alleging that its products are addictive and contribute to the youth mental health crisis.  

Who: Ashley Johnson, Senior Policy Manager Information Technology and Innovation Foundation;. Jess Miers, Legal Advocacy Counsel Chamber of Progress; Nicole Saad Bembridge, Associate Counsel NetChoice; Ava Smithing, Advocacy & Community Director Young People's Alliance.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

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Wed, Nov 15 - Social Media Foundations: Basics for Facebook & Instagram

What: In this introductory course, we will discuss setting up a Facebook and Instagram business profile, how to schedule posts and stories, and how to engage your customers through this visual platform. 

Who: Cassie Fly. a Marketing Specialist with the Temple University and the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Temple University Small Business Development Center

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Thu, Nov 16 - Environmental Journalism Summit

What: Leading environmental journalists from major news outlets will predict the top stories of the year ahead.

Who:; Top reporters from The New York Times, NBC, NPR, TIME, and others, including David Byrne of Talking Heads.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Society of Environmental Reporters

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Thu, Nov 16 - Journalism Ethics: Needed now more than ever???

What: We’ll share some anecdotal examples of dealing with touchy issues on deadline and invite you to join us in some exercises on how to handle decisions involving ethics.

Who: Traci Griffith, Mike Donoghue, Lincoln McKie

When: 11 am, Central

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The New England Newspaper & Press Association

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A learning strategy that has shown clear results

Retrieval practice sometimes (shows) effects some 50 percent more than other forms of learning. In one study, one group of subjects read a passage four times. A second group read the passage just one time, but then the same group practiced recalling the passage three times.

But when the researchers followed up with both groups a few days later, the group that had practiced recalling the passage learned significantly more. In other words, subjects who tried to recall the information instead of rereading it showed far more expertise.

What’s important about retrieval practice is that people take steps to recall what they know. They ask themselves questions about their knowledge, making sure that it can be produced.

More concretely, retrieval practice isn’t like a multiple-choice test, which has people choose from a few answers, or even a Scrabble game, where you hunt in your memory for a high-point word. Retrieval practice is more like writing a five-sentence essay in your head: You’re recalling the idea and summarizing it in a way that makes sense.

As psychologist Bob Bjork told me, “The act of retrieving information from our memories is a powerful learning event.”

Ulrich Boser, Learn Better

Why is my first choice so seriously lame?

For some reason, we often expect our first choice to be the optimal choice. However, it’s actually quite normal for your first attempt to be incorrect or wrong. This is especially true of the major decisions that we make in life.
 
Think of the first person you dated. Would this person have been the best choice for your life partner? Go even further back and imagine the first person you had a crush on. Finding a great partner is complicated and expecting yourself to get it right on the first try is unreasonable. It’s rare that the first one would be the one.
 
What is the likelihood that your 22-year-old self could optimally choose the career that is best for you at 40 years old? Or 30 years old? Or even 25 years old? Consider how much you have learned about yourself since that time. There is a lot of change and growth that happens during life. There is no reason to believe that your life’s work should be easily determined when you graduate.
 
When it comes to complex issues like determining the values you want in a partner or selecting the path of your career, your first attempt will rarely lead to the optimal solution.

James Clear