10,000 hours
I'm loving watching the Olympics. It seems it's all I've been doing. I've not been reading the things I want to, writing the things I need to. No, all Jim and I do each night is watch the Olympics. We even eat dinner downstairs in front of the TV, something we typically do only on Friday nights.
But, like I said, I'm loving it. And I'm not even a very sports-minded person. The passion, sweat, determination, dedication, perseverance and years of training culminating in those brief moments to prove one's excellence are fascinating. And heartbreaking for those who stumble during what could have been their moment of glory.
As I watch the Olympics, I can't stop thinking of Malcolm Gladwell. No, he's not some champion athlete that you're not remembering. He's a writer. And he wrote the surprisingly interesting -- no, fascinating -- book called Outliers: The Story of Success
In "Outliers," Gladwell posits that practice makes perfect ... in any and all pursuits. Success comes to those who work at it, regardless to a certain degree of their innate talent. Those who have the money and opportunity to work at their passion/pursuits day in and day out, for hours and hours (10,000 hours, to be exact), will indeed succeed. Mozart did it, the Beatles did it, Bill Gates did it, Michael Phelps did it.
Gladwell can explain it better than I can (obviously), so watch his interview with Anderson Cooper (I heart AC!). It's pretty interesting stuff:
My only question: How can I tally up the hours and hours I've put into writing to see how close I am to success? And do the hours I've spent thinking about writing count? And reading about writing? And dreaming about writing? Maybe if I add ALL of those hours together, maybe -- just maybe -- I'll find that I'm within just a few short hours of 10,000, of success, of hitting it big.
Maybe?
Today's question:
In an average day, what do you spend the most hours doing and is it what you think you SHOULD be doing?
My answer: Reading -- blogs, magazines, the newspaper, books. What I really should be doing is writing more ... and more ... and more.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Reader Comments (6)
The morning radio show I listen to talks about that Outliners all the time. When I think of my daughter dancing or my son playing the drums or producing songs his band records I think they are both on their way to being masters!
I should have a phd in reading... Do they offer that? I should definitely write more too!
I probably spend most of my day reading or trying to remember what I should do next. I should be doing almost anything else.
I've reached the stage where I play house all day, loading and unloading the dishwasher, clothes washer, Swifer-ing the kitchen floor, vacuuming up Cat and Dog hair, making one huge (for a little old lady) queen-sized bed, putting away clean clothes, etc., etc. Funny how long it takes to do such simple things when one gets old. Oh, and, yes, I should be writing, too.
Since I retired 2 1/2 weeks ago, I haven't been doing much of anything! Actually I've been finding it hard to adjust to not being on a schedule. I've been sleeping in, doing more reading, baking, fiddling around the house, slowly getting to my "to do" list although I have been adding more stuff to it, trying to do some kind of exercise each day and watching daytime TV (which sucks by the way). Lately, just like Lisa, I have been glued to the TV watching the Olympics. I love sports, though not a real winter sport person, but just captivated by the spirit of competition and of the young people competing.
I totally spend the most time blogging. I've been justifying it because I have a netbook and I sit in the livingroom where my kids are. But no, I shouldn't be on as often as I am.
I'm not much of a sports afficionadao either, and I haven't been able to watch the Olympics as much as I'd like - but when I do watch it brings out the MOM in me, I think Lindsay (womens downhill), Evan (figure skating) and Shaun (snowboarding) reactions at the ends of their races were priceless. Makes me just puff all up inside with the motherly pride :)
Kristin