The 10,000 Hour Myth and You!

just how committed are you to 10,000 hours of study?

In the last few days I have read about what Malcolm Gladwell outlined in “Outliers,” twice.

I read it first when I finished “Turning Pro,” by Steven Pressfield. And I just read about it, again, in a post by Don Giannatti in his column, “In the Frame.”

I had heard about that oft-cited idea quite a few years ago, shortly after Anders Eriksson coined the phrase, along with other researchers. In the 1993 paper, Eriksson described the practice, including the part Gladwell left out of his best-selling book.

“They found that it took a remarkable amount of time on such practice — some 10 years’ worth or 10,000 hours to gain mastery. But what Gladwell left out is the role of the “deliberate” practice, meaning work under the guidance of a teacher.” (From edsurge.com)

In that article the author further referred to Eriksson’s idea of the actual value of that amount of time being spent in pursuit of a singular goal or aspiration.

“What worked best for that,” says Ericsson, “is for students to receive personal instruction with a teacher who is able to assess them individually and determine ‘what would be the next step for [them] to actually develop and improve.’ Otherwise, students might stall out, despite hours of practice.”

To make it more personal so that we can understand the value of directed teaching is my “practice” at being a guitar player.

Sure, I have been playing guitar for about the same amount of time that I have been a photographer. I can call myself a professional photographer because I have put in the directed practice and effort of doing what I needed to do to become a professional.

Playing guitar, however, is a completely different thing. I traded a 1952 Chevrolet pickup for a Yamaha acoustic guitar and case. My wife thought I was crazy (of course), but what she did not know was that the pickup had electrical problems, which can drive one absolutely insane! That was about 1973.

One might surmise that because I had the guitar in 1973 that I might consider myself a guitar player. Absolutely not! Sure. I pick it up every-now-and then, and I put it back in its case. I play guitar, but I am not a guitar player.

There have been times in the past when I might have decided to actually become a guitar player, but time and familial responsibilities placed that desire far into the background.

In 2019 I was producing a newsletter for a guitar shop in town. The owner of the place could not understand why I didn’t want to take lessons to become much better at guitar. Every time I went into the shop to go over the next issue of the newsletter, he would jokingly say, “Tim! John, over there, says he will give lessons for free!”

It wasn’t until we were having coffee one day when I explained why I didn’t want to take lessons.

“If I were to take lessons,” I told him. “I would have to give up something else in my life to make room for them. It’s not a choice I want to make.”

After a few more minutes of contemplation, he understood. I never heard about it, again. At this time, I have a very nice guitar that I take out and play a few nights a week. It satisfies me. That’s all I need.

Is there anything in your life that you have spent 10,000 hours on? Was blood, sweat, and tears involved? Was it worth it?

I sincerely hope so!