The 10,000 Hours Rule

[Verve Designs]

There's a thread hanging around these parts discussing the various aspects of training and how long it ought to take etc.

It got me thinking about something I read a while ago called the "10,000 hours rule" as I think there's a difference In being qualified to do something and being good at it!

In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell says that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Basically, he studied the lives of extremely successful people to find out how they achieved success.

There are two phrases in the book that really struck a chord with me-

"The elite don’t just work harder than everybody else. At some point the elites fall in love with practice to the point where they want to do little else."

"The elites are in love with what they do, and at some point it no longer feels like work."

Having do what I do for aaaaaaaages now, and despite a crisis of confidence every now and again, I'm quite comfortable in telling myself that I am a "master" at what I do.

I don't think that's arrogance, as I can point out a successful business AND I know I've put those hours of practice in.

Doesn't mean I'm better than everyone/anyone else, it just means I can sit back and think "you know what, I AM pretty good at this!"

Have you put your hours in? Would you call yourself a master?.....

 

[souz]

There are two phrases in the book that really struck a chord with me-

"The elite don’t just work harder than everybody else. At some point the elites fall in love with practice to the point where they want to do little else."

"The elites are in love with what they do, and at some point it no longer feels like work


Love these quotes and love what I do and couldn't agree more after 15 years of doin nails x

 

[persianista]

I've discussed this with other trades as well, and we all agree with the 10,000 hours thing.
It was around the ten year point as a hairdresser that I truly felt comfortable that I was a master of my trade, before that I was ok, but nowhere near the level I wanted to be.

 

[laurakate]

I like those quotes and practice is very important.

From an academic perspective though, I would like to offer a counter arguement along the lines of you can practice something for a long time and still not quite be there (x factor anyone?) or you can be a natural at something and still struggle to take it to a professional level.

Practice definitely increases your chances of something but there are other factors involved too. I know of lots of people in the creative arts industries that practice something so much that they eventually suffer burn out and then lose their love for something.

Im not saying dont practice because that's just plain daft but I guess what I am saying is that other factors are involved in a persons success and it's important to have a varied and enjoyable life. I know people my age who've been in the industry at least twice as long as me and who couldn't even come close to having what I have in terms of tact, diplomacy and general people skills.

All the same though I love a good quote because it gets me thinking and I always have respect for people who value practice and self growth

 

[laurakate]

I've just thought of an example to sum up what I'm saying...

Someone could have been in industry for a few years working in a spa doing massage where when the client gets on the bed, they are happy to begin the massage with the client leaning their head over their folded arms with their head tilted to one side. The client is therefore stretching the muscles and not in a suitable position for massage (despite what a lot of promotional posters of people having massage imply! grrr! :evil: ).

In the above case, would the therapist benefit from doing the same thing for a further 10000 or so hours or do they need someone to step in and say "look, the client needs to be face down with arms by their side in order that the muscles can be relaxed for you to work on them."

It reminds me of what CND says about perfect practice making perfect (I can't remember the exact quote but yeah).

 

[tonicj]

"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice".

 

[Abbie101]

"Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice".

Completely agree with this! And I neeeeed to practice all my treatments 😔x

 

[Beau_123]

Totally agree, i have been doing this for 10yrs now. I still learn more everyday.