Fascinated by what makes some individuals strive to be the very best they can be, pyshchologist Charles A. Garfield has devoted 20 years to studying peak performers. He has found them everywhere -- from sports to science, from arts to entertainment. They are the people who run huge corproations and the people who make the corporations run. They are the prima ballerina and the dancing toll attendant on a California bridge who takes tolls without missing a beat in his dance routine. Here are some of Garfield's surprising findings about men and women who settle for no less than the best:

- Peak performers are not born -- they're made.

- They are not superhumans with special talents -- they are average people in every walk of life.

- Peak performers are not workaholics -- they are committed to success, not activity.

- Peak performer do share six common attributes, and Charles Garfield tells us what they are. They are skills anyone can cultivate, and knowing them is the first step toward personal growth and top achievement.