“Practice.  Practice.  Practice.”

As a kid, how many times did my Dad say that to me while I was in the process of trying to learn how to do something?  Is there any simpler, yet more common sense advice that you can pass along to someone who is looking to succeed in a given area?  I don’t think so.  Yet the concept of “practicing” is something that most of us have probably not put much thought into since we played a musical instrument or wrapped up our high school or college sports career.

What got me thinking about practice was reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.  He wrote the book in an effort to answer the question, “Why do some people succeed far more than others?” His conclusion, and the premise of the book, is that our society, cultures, and environment play a larger role than we typically acknowledge in establishing a framework for individual success.

It was an interesting read, and I have mixed thoughts on some of his conclusions.  My overall takeaway from the book was an increased awareness of these factors, as opposed to believing that they dictate whether or not an individual will achieve success in life.  However, I would like to talk about one of the ideas — the 10,000 hour rule, and how knowledge of the concept can be used to drive individual effort and success.

He explains, using a number of well-known success stories such as the Beatles, Bill Gates, and Bill Joy, that people who have demonstrated mastery in a given area often have had an opportunity to get 10,000 hours of practice under their belts.  Is this the only reason for their success?  Of course not, but he argues it is a contributing factor.  He notes that in study after study, this magic number shows up whether the person is a musician, athlete, author, programmer, or a member of virtually any other profession.

Think about 10,000 hours.  That is a big number.  If you focused on practicing a specific skill for 20 hours a week, in one year you would log 1,040 hours.  At that pace, it would take almost 10 years of constant effort (9.61 years to be exact…) to get to 10,000 hours. 

Wow.

On one hand this seems obvious — hard work equals results; yet this is still pretty powerful stuff.  Have you ever thought you could “wing it” on talent alone?  Wrong.  Everybody, and that includes Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, has to practice — and practice a lot.

The first thing that came to my mind as I was reading this chapter – and maybe even yours as well after reading my synopsis — was, “do I have a 10,000 hour specialty?”  It is a great question to ask yourself, and quite possibly a humbling one. 

The second takeaway however was that I began to immediately think about what I was doing to ensure that I have a dedicated focus (or practice time) on improving myself in those areas that are important to me.  This chapter left me re-energized to prioritize my time to get those valuable practice hours into my daily and weekly routine.

I have to imagine that the reality for most of us is that if the area you want to practice is not within the context of your work life, it will be tough to get the mass of hours together to get to 10,000 quickly.  As far as I am concerned however, that is ok.  The more important thing is to make practice a priority.

Let me give you a personal example.   Over the last year, photography has developed into a hobby, and one of the best ways to get better at photography is to take a lot of pictures.  With every photo you take, you experience a success or failure and each provides an opportunity to learn how improve your composition, use lighting to your advantage, etc.

With the 10,000 hour rule now at the forefront of my mind, I am in the process of establishing a personal goal to get more photography hours on the books.  I am likely going to set either a goal that is activity-based, i.e. “take at least 50 pictures a week,” or time-based, i.e. “dedicate at least two hours a week to taking photos,” so I can continue to improve my photography skills.  At this pace, my ramp to 10,000 hours may take awhile, but that is fine.  The real change is making a formal commitment to practicing and getting better.

The 10,000 hour rule has really gelled a lot of ideas I have had around personal self-improvement and success and has changed the way I am looking at how I am working toward my personal goals.  I would encourage you to think about how it applies to your life as well.  What is it that you want to do better?  Are you practicing?  Are you on a path to hit 10,000 hours?

As the old saying goes – practice makes perfect.