10,000 hour rule

Yesterday I decided to read "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell before going to bed. Years ago, when the book first came out, I actually read the book to see why it got so much attention. However, I did not find the book interesting and consequently I did not care less about finishing it. Surprisingly, the book blew my mind this time. I guess the first time I read it, I was having too many self-development books at the same time or I was not mature enough to understand the notions and principles.

One of the rules I want to mention here is the "10,000 hour rule." According to Malcolm, geniuses or prodigies are not different from us. We can all become an expert in a specific field if we know the formula to become successful. From Malcolm's observation, all successful people who reach the top of their fields possess a common trait: they all reach a total of 10,000 hour practice. Malcolm states that it's not the innate talent that makes you become an expert, it's the deliberate hours of practice. Furthermore he said successful people do not work harder than us, they work much harder then everyone.

So what's next? First I want to take the time to actually find out what my interest is. Once I know what I love to do, practice won't be a burden anymore. Second, I need to set goals and try my best to accomplish the goals. I will start with small and shot-term goals.  Right now I am thinking of improving my reading skill. Instead of spending one hour reading before bed time, today I will increase my reading time to one and a half hours, to two hours tomorrow, etc.

Work harder days by days. That's my motto!