Malcolm Gladwell wrote, in his landmark book, Outliers, that it takes 10 000 hours to truly master something. I found this fascinating and wondered if it might be possible for me to become, say, a concert pianist by devoting this particular number of hours to practice. I work in the day, so how long would it take a layman like me?

When you do the maths it’s not entirely insurmountable, just daunting.

Two hours per day equals 13 years and 73 days and four hours per day equals 6 Years and 86 day.

Of course the above formula assumes that there is never a day that is skipped. Not Christmas, Sundays or sick days. One would need to commit to one constant activity for the amount of years it takes to achieve your goal.

There is, however, something that Malcolm Gladwell does not touch on. The fact is, there are many ways to get through an hour or two without investing yourself at all. So many of our daily activities are done on autopilot that we sometimes switch over without being aware that we’re even doing it. If you decide to master something and become a true aficionado, it is absolutely vital that every single one of those hours be properly concentrated hours.

So if Malcolm Gladwell is to be believed, six to 13 years could turn you into a master and you wouldn’t even need to leave your life and travel into seclusion to do it. If that is the case then what on earth are you waiting for? 

Sound Idea Digital is a full service digital marketing agency that specialises in content marketing. We can develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy for your company | info@soundidea | www.soundidea.co.za