In his 2008 book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell wrote that “ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.”
The meaning behind this, in theory, is simple. To be considered elite and truly experienced within a certain craft, you must practice it for ten thousand hours.
Watching my son Ross dive helped me put this performance standard into perspective. Ross has been a springboard & platform diver since he was 8 years old – he is now 15. On average, he has committed to 3 hour training sessions, 5 times per week, approximately 40 weeks per year for the last 7 years. This means his investment is approximately 4200 hours and he has an extraordinary 5800 hours left to get to Gladwell’s definition of mastery! To put this into perspective, Ross will compete domestically at least three times this year, and internationally at least twice and is already one of the best divers for his age in Aus/NZ. Hard work and commitment will take him to World Juniors in the next 4 years and then beyond if he stays fit, healthy and motivated by the sport.
Wondering about my own career as a coach (business development coaching, then corporate & executive coaching, now personal development coaching for business owners), I reflected on my hours of one on one engagements which represents the bulk of my current and historical practice. I have been coaching for 15 years, on average 3 clients per day for at least 4 days per week, about 40 weeks of the year. There have been highs above that (my known limit is 33 clients in a week, which is unsustainable), and periods of deep lows (I didn’t coach very much in the year following my wife Fiona’s passing), but these averages are a good estimate. Even with that volume, I figure I approach 7200 hours of coaching, which leaves me 2800 short of mastery. The sheer investment and commitment to reach 10,000 hours is remarkable, and I look forward to the insights and nuances that the next 2800 hours will bring to my practice.
This led me to wonder – what skill/activity does each one of us have within us to potentially reach mastery? What activities did we love growing up that could have led to mastery, but we did not persevere, or life got in the way? (Think committing to a specific sport for long enough, or to music, or art, or a subject we were passionate in that could develop into a 20 year habit!)
Based on your talent and interests right now, what activity could you master in the next 20 years?
With love,
Christopher Miller
