The 10,000 Hour Rule
Research has shown we can become experts in any endeavor with 10,000 hours of effort. What do you think?
In support of habits
Last week, we discussed the importance of developing good habits and how good habits increase our likelihood of success. This week, we will delve a bit deeper into what it takes to create habits that lead to exceptional performance.
Now, let me say right up front that I’m not necessarily suggesting each of us needs to do exactly what I’m discussing here, but rather present the material for the purpose of learning from others. For the average person, frankly, dedicating the time and resources that I’m about to advocate is impossible. In a similar vein, you’ve heard me say that I’m not necessarily about blazing new paths, just learning from the successful people that have come before us.
One of the concepts I embrace is what is called stretch goals. That’s setting goals very high, which requires us to stretch hard to achieve them. Even if we don’t reach the stretch goal, we can still achieve a high level of success in the pursuit of those goals. OK, let’s dig in!
Where I learned about the 10,000 rule
In the early 1990s, my daughter was a young budding softball player. I’ll never forget her first game; she was 5 years old. She was so excited to play, and afterwards, on the ride home, she told me all about the game. She asked, “Daddy, did we win?” You see, that’s how it really ought to be: play the sport for the sheer enjoyment of it, and if you win, then all the better. I don’t know if they won or not that day. It really didn't matter, but watching the joy of playing the game was all that any of us really needed.
But the story I want to tell you is this. During this time, high school and college softball were just taking off, and there were no real role models for the young softball players. So what we did was look to the baseball players for inspiration. Because we live in Tulsa Oklahoma, in professional sports, the “home team” is either from Dallas or St. Louis (except for basketball, and then we have the OKC Thunder). Depending upon your take, you typically liked one or the other. Frankly, I was never, and could never be, a Dallas fan. Why, you ask? Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area, when it came to football, I rooted for the Redskins (now the Commanders), whose archenemy was the Dallas Cowboys. Our baseball team, the Washington Senators, left to become the Texas Rangers. So, you get the idea there, anything Dallas was at the bottom of my list. But I always did like St. Louis baseball teams, even when I was a small child; some of my biggest heroes played for the Cardinals.
And during this time, the early 1990s, St. Louis had an absolutely fantastic home run hitter named Mark McGwire. Do you remember him? I bought a poster that we hung in Kristina’s room, featuring Mark with massive bulging arms swinging the bat and nailing another home run. And on the bottom of the poster was a caption that said something to the effect of “this is what 10,000 hours of practice gets you.” I think it was from Successories, but I can’t remember. We used to stare at that poster and talk about what it would take for her to become a top-notch softball player and a hitter like Mark McGwire. What a shame when we eventually learned that Mark McGwire was using performance enhancing drugs to improve his batting and we had to take the poster down as he was no longer a role model. How sad.
This was the first time I had heard about the 10,000 rule. I was intrigued and did some research on it; yes, indeed, it is a thing. However, the bigger point I want to make here is that to develop good habits and increase your performance, there is a straightforward formula. In his book Outliers, author Malcolm Glidewell asks and answers the question “What makes high achievers different?” The author of this book primarily researched musicians and other high achievers to understand what made them elite. Essentially, what he came up with was the rule that states that 10,000 hours of deliberate, focused practice, combined with appropriate feedback and challenges, results in someone mastering the subject. To put that in terms we understand, 3 hours a day takes 3,333 days, which is over 9 years. For you and me, this is a long time. On the other hand, elite athletes typically begin early in life, and that is how you get Olympic athletes competing at a very high level in their late teens or early 20s. We can apply this analogy to many different endeavors and likely conclude the same thing. In “the world according to Dave,” what this means is if you want something bad enough, you know you will have to work really hard, and if you do, you likely will succeed.
A more practical approach
For the average person, we just are not able to dedicate this amount of time to become an expert in finance or financial planning. We can, however, become educated and then multiply our knowledge by using a financial planner to ensure we achieve success. We can develop good habits that help ensure we do the right things as a matter of routine. This thought process, combined with good habits and hard work, can span our entire life, not just in the financial area, as I am currently focusing on.
Bottom line
I’ve now spent the past two posts discussing the importance of developing good habits and practicing them until they become routine. Like a policeman’s training, when things really get tough, the automatic habit that takes over is to do what we have learned, that is, execute the good habit. Of course, we all realize the opposite is true, and sadly, we witness these individuals around us daily.
And here is the acid test: You will know you have developed good habits when you get good results. This is an important point, and we all need to be able to self-assess, admit when things are not working, and make needed changes until we obtain, almost automatically, the good results we desire. The absolute last thing we want to do is continue to do the same things we have always done, obtain less than stellar results, question why things are not working and then continue on like nothing is wrong. You get it. That’s all for this week!
What’s in it for Me
Good habits, coupled with focused practice, are a combination for a lifetime and directly contribute to your success.
Call to Action
Assess the habits you possess today. Do they help you or hurt you? Do you need to do more of the same to improve, or do you need to change what you’re doing? That’s an important question, and perhaps you may want outside input to help you see if what you are doing is successful. This could be a financial advisor, mentor, parent or just a trusted friend.
Recommended Resources
Outliers by Malcolm Glidewell (See Note 1 for link to purchase).
Up Next
Social Security and Medicare.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Outliers by Malcolm Glidewell: https://amzn.to/45JdI2F