I was reading the success stories of several IT people (Bill Gates among others) about how they got where they are and th hard work it took. According to the writer of the stories it all boiled down to investing about ten thousand hours into something before you become really good at something. Ten thousand hours, that equals twenty hours a week for the period of ten years. If you work at it full-time (forty hours) you could get there in five. Sixty hours a week and you have spent the ten thousand in about three and a half years.
Settling for perfection
I was reading the success stories of several IT people (Bill Gates among others) and according to the writer of the stories it all boiled down to investing about ten thousand hours into something before you become really good at something. Ten thousand hours, that equals twenty hours a week for the period of ten years. If you work at it full-time (fourty hours) you could get there in five. Sixty hours a week and you have spent the ten thousand in about three and a half years.
Just think about it, do you want to become a world class guitarist? That’s going to take you ten thousand hours. A master in martial art? Well, that’s a different matter because that takes a lifetime of dedication if you ask any true master.
The number of things you can master in a lifetime is limited. It so much work that you should choose carefully what you really want. At a young ange the choice might even be made by your parents (piano lessons). The advantage of starting young are not that you learn faster. It’s that you have more time to practice and have less preconceptions as to what it’s supposed to be like.
Where I want to go here is the investment it takes to become a master in something. But how do you do this? How do you invest your time so you will become better every time you practice.
Have you ever tried learing a new skill and ended up doing the same old thing over and over again? (I know I have, playing the same songs over and over on guitar.) This is where you make or break the practice. As soon as you realize that you’re not actually doing something new but repeting what sills you already have stop right there! Look at what you are doing and where you want to go with the practice.
Doing what works is not the way to go, you only learn by doing new things and messing things up. No mistakes equals nothing learned. Practicing should eb a consant search for the imperfections and trying to better yourself. As soon as you stay within your comfort zone and refuse to make mistakes or don’t bother with them you might as well stop practicing.
Be honest to yourself and look at your practice. Dont settle for the same old thing every time. Challenge yourself to learn new things and never be content. Settle for perfection, nothing less.
To write: starting young, attention, how to pI was reading the success stories of several IT people (Bill Gates among others) and according to the writer of the stories it all boiled down to investing about ten thousand hours into something before you become really good at something. Ten thousand hours, that equals twenty hours a week for the period of ten years. If you work at it full-time (fourty hours) you could get there in five. Sixty hours a week and you have spent the ten thousand in about three and a half years.
Just think about it, do you want to become a world class guitarist? That’s going to take you ten thousand hours. A master in martial art? Well, that’s a different matter because that takes a lifetime of dedication if you ask any true master. A computer programmer, a dancer, you get the idea.
“If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I’m not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.” – Tomas A. Edison
The number of things you can master in a lifetime is limited. It’s so much work that you should choose carefully what you really want. At a young age the choice might even be made by your parents (piano lessons). The advantage of starting young are not that you learn faster. It’s that you have more time to practice and have less preconceptions as to what it’s supposed to be like.
Where I’m going with this
Where I want to go here is the investment it takes to become a master in something. But how do you do this? How do you invest your time so you will become better every time you practice.
Have you ever tried learning a new skill and ended up doing the same old thing over and over again? (I know I have, playing the same songs over and over on guitar.) This is where you make or break the practice. As soon as you realize that you’re not actually doing something new but repeating what skills you already have stop right there. Look at what you are doing and where you want to go with the practice.
Doing what works is not the way to go, you only learn by doing new things and messing things up. No mistakes equals nothing learned. Practising should be a constant search for the imperfections and trying to better yourself. As soon as you stay within your comfort zone and refuse to make mistakes or don’t bother with them you might as well stop practising.
Be honest to yourself and look at your practice. Don’t settle for the same old thing every time. Challenge yourself to learn new things and never be content. Settle for perfection, nothing less.
I’m going to use that headline now the next time I am told “you’re never satisfied.” I’ve stopped taking it as a criticism already… Thanks too for the real-time calculations. 20 hours a week = 10 years??? I’d better get cracking.
It’s very dual… on the one side we always want to be better (and should not settle for less) and on the other side how will we ever enjoy the moment right now if it’s not perfect.
I don’t think we’ll ever solve that one
Hey ,
Nice post , my thoughts are it depends on your proffesion too .See in my proffesion , i need to learn again and again as if i stop learning about things , i would not be able to deal with my clients conditions.New research in the field of ayurveda are constant .
But whats wrong in learning new things and also perfecting old things at a same time .I am not sure i might be quoting the perfect refferance , but its known in India the famous”J.R.Tata” the man who build the Tata industry always learned one new subject every year . Well i have taken that thing in my mind and always done in that way .
Well blogging is this year challenge my friends.
Thanks for the post
Regards
Sudeep
Mastering a subject would take 10,000 hours (that’s why in job search you would see requirement for 5 years of experience in xyz).
Being the master would take a life time.
There is no such thing as “perfection”. Don’t search for it and you won’t have heartbreak or disappointment.
Settle for “unperfection” and you will enjoy each and every moment of it, from inside yourself to the outside world surrounding you.
By the way, the book in question is Outliers, from Malcolm Gladwell. You can read more about it here: http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html.