The Power Of 10,000 Hours

How do you become the best in the world in your chosen field?

Malcolm Gladwell in his new book Outliers, makes the premise that to really master a field of endeavor it takes about 10,000 hours. This works out to 250, forty hour weeks, or about 5 years on a full time job.

Seth Godin, in a recent blog article, argued that for some new fields, the mastery time is much less. He says…

You win when you become the best in the world, however ‘best’ and ‘world’ are defined by your market. In many mature markets, it takes 10,000 hours of preparation to win because most people give up after 5,000 hours. That’s the only magic thing about 10k… it’s a hard number to reach, so most people bail.

But, ready for this? The Dip (time required) is much closer in niche areas, new areas, unexplored areas. You can get through the Dip in an online network or with a new kind of music because being seen as the best in that area is easier (at least for now). You can get through the Dip as a real estate broker in a new, growing town a lot quicker than someone in midtown Manhattan. The competition is thinner and probably less motivated.

So here are a couple of questions…

1. What are you good at?
2. How much experience do you have?
3. Are you the best in the world?

And here is a truly important question in today’s economy…

What is that experience worth?

Here is a startling fact…

The average person watches over four hours of TV a day or 20 hours a week. If you spent this time learning something new, you could master almost any field of endeavor in 10 years. A niche field could be mastered in 5 or 6… So…

• Imagine turning off the TV and becoming a world class web designer.
• Click the off button and write a best selling book
• Unplug the tube and become a gourmet chef

Here is another startling fact…

Extreme video game players play an average of 45 hours per week… so extrapolate the time out…

• Turn the X-Box off and become a highly paid game programmer
• Unplug the PS2 and become a best in class graphic designer
• Unplug the WII and become a real professional tennis player

Here is something to consider when you are sitting in traffic…

The average commuter spends almost 30 minutes getting to work and another 30 minutes driving home. Here is an easy hour a day that can be converted into a learning experience. Substitute Audio Books or Podcasts for the radio and you might experience…

• A job promotion with the new leadership skills you learned
• A new language you learned while driving
• The motivation to start a new business or make more sales calls

Here is a simple resolution for 2009. Why not take some of your unproductive time and turn it into a new skill. 10,000 hours will be here before you know it!