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any of us are familiar of Michael Phelps, who is considered to be one of the greatest-athlete of all time. He has won more Olympic medals than any other olympian in any sport.
And its highly unlikely that you know the name of El Guerrouj, who is a Moroccan runner and holds two Olympic gold medals and is one of the greatest runner of all the time. For many years, he held the world record in the mile. At the Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece in 2004, he won gold in 1500-meter and 5000-meter races.
These two athletes are perfect build for their respective fields of expertise but they are still widely different in terms of body structure. They notably differ in height. Phelps is six feet, four inches tall, a perfect build for swimming, while El Guerrouj is five feet, nine inches tall, an ideal frame for running. Taller runners are heavier runners and every extra pound is a curse for distance runners. Apart from seven-inch difference in height, the two are identical in one respect. They both wear same length of inseam on their pants. At peak fitness, Phelps weighed 194 pounds heavier than El Guerrouj, who competes with an ultralight weight of 138 pounds.
How is this possible anyway? Imagine, if these world class athletes were to switch sports, given their remarkable athleticism. Could Micheal Phelps become an Olympic-distance runner under enough training? It's highly unlikely. Similarly its doubtful that Guerrouj would ever qualify for Olympics as a swimmer.
Since 1976, the average height of an Olympic runner in 1500-meter is five feet, ten inches whereas the average height of the swimmer is six feet, four inches. Swimmers tends to be tall and have long backs and arms, which are ideal tools for thrusting the water back. Guerrouj would be a great hindrance if he ever touched the pool. The key takeaway is that: the secret to maximizing the odds of success is to choose and focus on right field of competition. But do genes have anything to do with our success? Do they increase the odds of success? Some people don't like to discuss on this fact. There's a simple fact that people are born with different abilities but there is no sense in talking about the thing you can't control. The strength of genetics is also their weakness. Genes cannot be easily changed, which provides a powerful advantage in favorable conditions and fatal disadvantage in unfavorable conditions.
I'm smart if you ask me anything about habits, human behavior, cooking and internet things; not so much when it comes to knitting, rocket science and playing piano.
Conclusion: Genes do not determines the your destiny because they determine the areas of opportunity. Pick up the right field and the progress isn't so much hard. Pick up the wrong field and life will be a struggle.
Tagged : Self Improvement • Decision Making