Ten Thousand Hours or Your Life

I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers: The Story of Success, and I've been thinking a lot about the "ten thousand hour rule." It occurred to me to ask: is it actually possible for what I might call a normal person to achieve ten thousand hours?

Here's a synopsis of me: I work full time and have a considerable commute (courtesy the Bay Area). I have a six-year-old son and a fiancé. I also co-own a business and work on it occasionally. I also have the standard human needs to drink water, eat food, bathe and sleep. Normal or not, I think my life represents some standard commitments that adults with family have.

Now, to the rule. For anyone who hasn't heard about it, Gladwell dissects the elements of success, going far beyond the usual rags-to-riches story often told around the successful people. One of those elements is the fact that prior to making it big, each outlier accumulated at least ten thousand hours in his/her art or craft. This seems to be some magic number for human brains to become experts in music, computer science, law, art, sports – you name it. 

But let's face it. Ten thousand hours is a LOT of time. Or is it?

A standard work year contains some 2,000 hours (8 hours a day x 50 weeks in a year). That means if one works at one's job in a focused, concentrated way for at least five years, one can accumulate ten thousand hours. But what if you want to venture out into something that's not your day job, like many of us do. You want to do art or writing or cooking or auto mechanics. How much time would it take to become an expert if you have a day job?

To answer my question, I created a spreadsheet and a chart. There are some realities to face in the path toward an expert state. One limitation is that one could be limited to the number of spare hours in a week. Another limitation is that one has a limited chronology within which to achieve an expert state. To demonstrate, here are some numbers:

• If you had 1 hour per week to spend on a craft, it would take you over 80 years to accumulate ten thousand hours.
• If you wanted to achieve expert state within 10 years, you would need to allocate at least 16 hours per week on a craft – equivalent to a part-time job.

This poses some interesting questions for life. I’m in my thirties, and having the big four-oh right around the corner creates some clarity.  Let’s say I wanted to become a pottery artist superstar, and I started now.  It would take me till I retire, to get those ten thousand hours. And it causes one to pause and think about the price of an expert state and success.

I’ve always wanted to write and speak for a living. Perhaps I need to join something like five toastmaster clubs or forsake the inclination to pay rent for a few years. The trouble for me is that as an introvert, I get so little time to myself as it is. For me, dedicating more time to speaking and writing skills could very well mean my sanity (and the safety of my loved ones). Hm. Time to ponder. 

10 Things I Envy of Other People

I like trying out new ideas and looking for the rarer of perspectives.  That usually pushes me in the direction of provocateur.  I had it in my head today to write a list of what I'm jealous about in contrast with the innumerable "what I'm thankful for" lists out there.  But then it occurred to me to ask: what's the difference between jealousy and envy?

If you ever wondered, this article is great at explaining it.  So let me correct myself.

I've set out to write a list of what I'm envious of.  Because with all the urging to keep things positive on the interwebs, sometimes you just want to get a few things off your chest.

10 Things I Envy of Other People

1. People with more than one child.  I always wanted more than one.
2. Folks in the Bay Area who've been able to buy a house, whether their parents helped them or they simply make ungodly amounts of money.  I've moved something like 9 times in the past 13 years.  I'm a little road weary.
3. Those freakin' Silicon Valley 20-somethings who cash out on their startups' IPO, because those people can really believe in dreams and breakthroughs and all things aspirational.  They're living the dream that only one in 500 million can live, but still carry the delusion that it's hard work and smarts instead of luck that pays off.
4. Gals who learned how to manage their weight early in life, as I struggle to understand food and drink and exercise in my later 30s.  (I was a skinny girl in my youth, and now I'm a fattish girl in my adulthood.)
5. People who really know how to write.  And I don't mean people who have the skill, but people who have the discipline to do it every day, rain or shine, elation or depression, fact or fiction, truth or dare.
6. Folks who can draw or paint or sculpt.  I'm such a visual person, a visual thinker, that it maddens me that words and shapes are basically my only tools.
7. (only sometimes)  People with little ambition.  Because when you do have ambition, like me, life is fraught with this constant drive to keep scanning the horizon for what's next, what's better.  It makes being present a whole lot harder.
8. Couples whose marriages have lasted.  Mine died a few years ago, and although I intend to join the married couple club again in the future, divorce makes life seem stranger and less certain.
9. I envy, or maybe it's more like miss, my 20-something self.  Life looked so much more amazing, chalk full of possibility and wonder.  I miss being able to revel in the ideas of things that could be, rather than contending with how the things really are.  Sometimes delusion is beautiful.
10. People who can drink caffeine in the late afternoon and sleep at night.  I love tea, a proper cup, with freshly boiled water and sugar and milk.  And it would be lovely to actually take tea at tea time (4pm)!

Well.  I hope this has been enjoyable.  What are YOU envious of?

Working Jane

So I started my own business last year.  You can check it out - it's cool!  www.vinyl-unlimited.com. We do awesome decals, t-shirts and other random stuff our machinery will do that people will pay for.

I also got another awesome job this year, as the marketing manager of an up-scale professional services firm.  The salary is pretty awesome.  My mentors and colleagues are awesome-er.

And what both of these mean is that I've checked off two major life goals in one year.  I started that business.  I broke that 6-figure salary ceiling I kept bumping up against.  TWO, count them.  TWO life goals in ONE year.  I've never been so accomplished.

And life is... hard.  Business finances are a constant concern as we endure the burn-in stage of every startup without angel backing.  Life is full of work, work, work, as I cycle through from one job to the other to home to mommy-dom to stolen moments of alone time to poignant and growth-filled minutes with my honey bun.  I've gained weight.  Weekends are about cramming as much rest into two days as possible.  I've had to manage the anxiety that comes with the month-to-month figures in the bank accounts.  I've learned how one day can start with amazing possibilities and end in the pits of despair.  I've experienced how sometimes all it takes is a quick conversation with a potential client, friend or fellow marketer or entrepreneur to lift one's spirits and gather my gumption to get back on that horse.

And people.  People are more generous, lazy, caring, shallow, encouraging, flaky, strong, weak, and everything in between than I've ever known them to be.  And this includes myself.

As much as I would never give up my projects, my commitments to family and friends (and my desire to be thinner), I would never say that all this isn't worthwhile.  It is.  I wouldn't say it's easy.  It's not.  I wouldn't say it's all rewarding, because it isn't yet.

The one thing I will say is...

...I need some more FUN in my life!  All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl.