10,000 hours of concentrated effort is what makes an expert or a master, says Malcolm Gladwell in his new book, Outliers, which is about what makes a person a success. If this is true, it is interesting information. I wonder how many hours have all the would-be writers and artists and poets I know actually put into their craft. For some reason, many writers especially expect success to happen overnight. But what if success is not so much about talent as it is about practice?
I have kept a log book for years documenting the amount of time I have spent writing. I did this for two reasons: 1) so that I would see writing as a real job and 2) to hold myself accountable. According to Malcolm and the hours I have amassed, I have crossed over into “expert” status.
When I look back at what I was writing 14 years ago, I do see how far I’ve come. I also know that with another 10,000 hours under my belt, I’ll be a lot better than I am now. Yet, I do find it fascinating that I find myself coming into my own as a writer now, with that amount of time under my belt. Could there really be something to this 10,000 hours concept? If nothing else, a bar to reach for?
What if you knew that you wouldn’t really be good until you put in 10,000 hours of solid effort? Would you be willing to do the work? I hope so. Because the world not only needs more successful people, we need our artists, our writers, our poets. So if you haven’t already, please start logging those hours to develop your mastery!
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This reminds me of this Newsweek article on Rachel Maddow http://www.newsweek.com/id/170385.
‘For Maddow, the job never really stops. She regularly works 16-hour days, only eating once she has finished. She often has just one large meal at 2 a.m., purchased from street vendors. [Executive producer Bill] Wolff says she “simply wants to be excellent.” Phil Griffin, the head of MSNBC, attributes her success to a certain “magic,” and to her application: “She comes in every day and studies for eight hours. I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they come in to television and cable news, which is a really intense, competitive area, is to not work hard. This is not for the soft of heart. It’s intense.”’
Great comment! I love Rachel Maddow. And thanks for the link to the article.
P.S. I am out of town visiting my daughters. Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. More posts to come next week.