If you aren’t familiar with the 10,000 hour rule, take a few minutes to learn something new!
In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers,” Gladwell discusses the concept in detail (although the idea itself is nothing new). In order to gain mastery of your field, you must practice a lot, at least 10,000 hours. Be it programming, learning a new language, playing football, etc. the concept applies equally to all fields of interest. I’m sure you can think of random examples where it wouldn’t apply like an 83 year old woman who wants to become a master of figure skating but let’s take that out of the picture for now shall we?
One might assume that successful people have some sort of innate gift. But where’s the proof? In an era of science, that branch doesn’t bear much fruit. But the concept of working hard and dedication does make sense. Anyone can be successful at what they do given time and practice.
So what’s the breakdown of 10,000 hours? The following calculations are made on the assumption that you work 50 weeks a year:
50 hours a week: 4 years
40 hours a week: 5 years
30 hours a week: 6 years, 8 months
20 hours a week: 10 years
10 hours a week: 20 years
Senior and junior positions in the workplace begin to make a little more sense now.
No one said mastery was going to be easy but keep working, it’ll pay off! After all, as the old adage goes: practice makes perfect!
