There’s a 10,000 hour rule that Malcolm Gladwell defends in his book Outliers, which basically says if you want to become successful at something, you’ve got to do it for 10,000 hours. That translates to roughly twenty hours a week for ten years. In terms of becoming bill-gates-like successful, that rule must be combined with opportunity. But regardless of what the critics are saying, this 10,000 rule on its own sparks some interesting thoughts. What the hell am I an expert of? For the past ten years, I was a marketing manager. I’m pretty sure it’s the only thing I’ve done for a solid 10,000 hours and I sure as hell got good at it. But where has that gotten me after deciding to change careers? I have to remember how many hours during that time I spent on adjusting my thoughts and solving problems. Mine as well as everyone else’s. That counts for something, doesn’t it? It’s mostly why I make a good life coach: I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s become second nature. What will you spend your 10,000 hours on? If you worry and try to control things twenty hours a week, you’re destined to become an expert worrier-slash-controller. If you want to be something more, think about what you should be doing consistently so that ten years from now, you’ll be successful at your expertise. Hopefully it’ll be something you’re passionate about, because 10,000 hours is a long time to commit to something.
