5.11.2010

10, 000 Hours

Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers" tells us that 10, 000 hours is the magical number of hours you need to accumulate in order to be an expert at anything.

That's total dedication to one thing. I've been thinking about what I would dedicate myself to: yoga, genetics or literature? There are endless possibilities and it all comes down to time and practice. Knowing me, I wouldn't know where to start. I guess I can live with mediocrity in some areas like fencing, skiing or horseback riding. As long as I'm proficient, that's good enough.

What would you dedicate 10, 000 hours to?

2 comments:

  1. I just did the math, and subtracting all the hours we get breaks, walking in between class and taking gym class. We spend less than half of 10 000 hours in our high school years in classrooms... That's my way of say, wow 10 000 hours is a big commitment, no thanks. I finally can comment!

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  2. Yea! A huge commitment indeed. They said that expert violinists start at age 5 practicing possibly 3 times a week. Then by their teens they practice about 30 hours a week (that's almost an entire work week!). Then they increase their practice more and more. It's not until their 20's that they finally have become "experts" and hit 10,000 hours.

    WOW. It's too late for you and I...

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