In the article “What It Takes to Be Great,” Geoffrey Colvin makes the following argument: “you will only achieve greatness through a huge amount of hard work for many years. And not just any hard work, but a special kind of work, demanding and painful. He explains that anyone can become great and that no one is born with a gift for a specific profession. Colvin uses many examples to support his statement, such as Tiger Woods, a champion golfer, Winston Churchill, a great orator, and Michael Jordan, a basketball player. They proved that “the ten-year rule,” deliberate practice, and striving for improvement helped them achieve greatness. (Colvin) Tiger Woods, at 18 months old, was encouraged to play golf by his father. At the age of 18, he became the youngest winner of the American Amateur Championships. Winston Churchill spent hours rehearsing his speeches and became one of the greatest orators of the 20th century. Michael Jordan was kicked off his high school team because he wasn't good enough to play. After intensive training, he became one of the best basketball players. There are many others who have achieved greatness through this practice, such as Usher, Sirena Williams, Thomas Edison, and Diane Warren. I believe that perfecting your performance through continuous practice results in enormous improvement in greatness. We are like playdough. We can shape ourselves toward greatness through years of deliberate practice, "...an activity explicitly intended to improve performance that achieves goals just beyond one's skill level, provides feedback on results, and involves high levels of repetition,” with the ultimate goal of expanding our abilities to improve. Usher has worked very hard to be who he is today. ...... middle of paper ...... Work Bring Success. " CNNMoney. Cable News Network, October 19, 2006. Web. November 17, 2013. http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391794/• Abegunde, Mickey. “Justin Bieber and Usher: “We both want to grow and innovate as artists”” Capital Global Limited, May 12, 2012. Web.• Rodney, Dave Usher New York: Rosen Pub Group, 2007. Print.• “Usher.” Biography Channel website, December 6, 2013. • Bradley, Michael Serena Williams. New York: Benchmark, 2005. • O'Neil, Dana Pennett and Pat Williams. at the top of their game and how you can get there too. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2007. Print.• “A Brief Biography of Thomas Edison” National Park Service, November 16, 2013. Web December 6... 2013.