10,000 Hours

I just finished devouring the book The Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. That was a fantastic read. I'm not going to give a book review here, as that would be merely boring (as opposed to some of my other posts, ahem.)

One point struck me early on in the book, though, and I've been pondering it ever since. Gladwell talks about the 10,000 Hour Rule. According to those who study this sort of thing, it takes around 10,000 hours for anyone to become proficient at anything, whether it's music, math, a sport, or a skill. All those you see as being experts in an area have devoted 10,000 hours in the study and practice of whatever they are expert in. Bill Gates did. Joe Flom, the lawyer did. Canadian hockey stars do. Even Mozart and Beethoven put in 10,000 hours before they became really good. When we see these young and successful people rise to the top in their chosen profession, we tend to ascribe it to genius, but they were actually really, really dedicated to what they loved. Well, they were smart, too, which helps. But you can be really smart and not actually very good at any on thing; sort of the classic "jack of all trades, master of none" idea. You can be of average intelligence and be an expert with enough work. Those who focus and study will become an expert at 10,000 hours. They can't help it.

That makes me feel better. Why? Because I always figured I was just not quite smart enough to become an expert at anything. I'm not dumb (usually. Okay, sometimes.), but I am lazy. Laziness I can change, given enough incentive.

10,000 hours will take nearly 10 years of steady and disciplined work. Have you put in 10 years of study on something? If so, what? And why did you pick that thing? I would assume if you have the discipline to focus that long and hard you both love what you're doing and have a lot of encouragement to keep going. If you haven't put in 10,000 hours on any one thing, which area would you choose?

I figure I've put in 10,000 hours on some things merely by reason of being thrown into a role. I've certainly put in 10,000 hours of studying and applying cooking techniques, though it's never been in a classy restaurant setting. I've been cooking in Chez Casa, which is not your classy joint (I laugh at garnishes, and when have I ever, ever worried about good china?), but I get plenty of feedback from the patrons. Who have their elbows on the table. Occasionally they have used the chair fabric as a napkin, despite my protests.

I've put in 10,000 hours (maybe even 20,000) being a mom. Why don't I feel like an expert even with all that time put in? Maybe I've become an expert in some smaller aspects of mothering, like how to logically and confidently explain why monsters can not possibly be in the room at night (the answer, of course, is that the monsters' mommies won't allow them out of the house at night, as they need their sleep. Since monsters can't frighten you in the daytime, monsters are just not all that scary. Witches find small children so smelly that they wouldn't be caught dead in a child's room. They'd rather put their faces in a toilet bowl full of number 2s than go into a child's room. Poop is always good for a laugh.). I also multi-task pretty well.

I've definitely put in 10,000 hours reading, but I haven't focused on any one thing. I'm pretty good at reading. I know what is good and what is bad in literature and writing, and I even know why a lot of times, but I wouldn't call myself an expert at, say, Russian literature or French poetry, or even American novels. Maybe I'm getting closer to being an expert at science fiction. I don't mind working on that some more.

I think I will become an expert in the scriptures. They fascinate me, they're available, and I'm also following the commandments when I read them a lot. Multi-tasking! I would love to be a scriptorian. I will also have to do some major work on my memory so I can recall where scriptures are. I can recite them, but I usually can't remember their references.

Tell me what you are an expert in, if you are one already, or what you want to devote your 10,000 hours to. I'd love to know!