Jake and I were listening to Gladwell’s new book Outliers on the way to Los Angeles a few weeks ago and amongst many other interesting points, one of the things he talked about was the ability to master anything by putting 10,000 hours of work into it.
This is a well-talked-about number: 10,000. It comes down to about three hours a day, everday, for ten years. It may seem like a long time to you but it somehow didn’t to me. Instead, it got me thinking. If I were to spend three hours of my time for ten years on something, what would I want it to be? What’s the one thing I’d want to accomplish?
The thing is, there are many things I wish I were better at: photography, painting, mixed media, physics, math, psychology, swimming, tennis, running, drawing, languages…Just to name a few. But if I were to accomplish one thing, I always come back to the same one: writing a novel and getting it published.
I want to write. I want to get published. Not self-publish. I cannot explain the reasons. It’s just a craving I have. I don’t need it to be a bestseller and I don’t need to write five more. Just one book published by a reputable company would make me feel fulfilled. Ten years ago, I was spending a lot of time writing. Now: none.
So it got me thinking…if this is really my biggest wish, maybe I should start spending some time on it. Shouldn’t I?
If you were to spend 10,000 hours mastering something, what would it be?
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10,000 Hours3 comments to 10,000 HoursLeave a Reply |
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I’ve seen Gladwell interviewed several times. And I keep getting stuck on that number: 10,000. I would love to master something, but I’m 45-years-old. I don’t know if I have the time anymore.
I’d love to write a novel, but I don’t think you’d have to master it to get one published. To be a “master writer” perhaps you’d have to put that kind of time in. By a “master writer,” I’m assuming the likes of Hemingway or Stephen King or A.A. Milne and the like.
To answer your question: I were to master something, what would it be? My grandfather told me to have a hobby now that could make me money when I retire. He restored antique motorcycles — that allowed him to live comfortably in his retirement. At this moment, I think I’d like to master Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I enjoy it and it is something that I could easily teach in my retirement.
Like you, I would like to write a novel. Or a memoir. Something meaningful, full length, completed. It’s so easy to spend time doing other things, like scrapbooking. Writing tends to fall by the wayside. I don’t know why.