Becoming An Expert

[Brief aside: Someone--has to be a guy--actually Googled "the role of the tapeworm in educational mismanagement" and--shudder--guess what?

All I want to know is: why?

On another topic, a Greek(?) Google search for "jenius creativity" tossed up Moi as the top result. Sad to think that the greatest ancient civilization may have regressed just a leeetle bit more...]


Now back to Our regularly scheduled brilliant post:

Every once in a while, if you surf the Web often, you'll run across things you've seen before, but this time around, you see them.

Case in point: The Jenius occasionally drops by David Seah's blog to enjoy the productivity and flexibility focus David brings to managing one's resources. Several months ago, I actually downloaded his Printable CEO tool (check it out!) and am in the process of adapting for My own use.

At the time, I read--actually, scanned--one of David's posts, this one about investing about 10,000 hours in order to become an expert. In fact, as quoted from another of My sources, the DIY Planner, it isn't talent that separates the high-achievers from the average, but the amount of practice the person puts into their endeavor. Yes, talent makes it easier to do something, but excellence comes from action, not mere genetics.

I ran into the post today while researching productivity topics and this time, the post clicked in My mind. Yeah, I saw the light.

In David's own words:

"While 10,000 hours over 10 years is a daunting proposition, consider this:
---1000 hours is pretty doable. That’s a little less than a year of full-time work.
---100 hours is even more achievable…you could do that over a few months on the side, or just slam through it in a very intense couple of weeks.
---Even spending 10 hours practicing something is going to make you significantly better at it. If you spent 10 hours practicing one song, or learning how to juggle, or learning how to bowl strikes…you’re going to learn something.
---One hour? That’s worthwhile too. You could spend an hour writing your signature over and over again to make it cooler. I’ve done that at least a couple of times in my life.

The point: the ability to improve ourselves is very much within our grasp. I always knew this, but putting it in terms of accumulating hours of experience is awesome. An acquaintance of mine put weight loss in similar terms: 'Sure, it’s going to take two years to lose that much weight–it’s a drag. But you’re going to be living those two years anyway, so why not slim down at the same time?'" (Emphasis Mine.)


The time is going to by anyway, so why not do it? This heuristic applies as much to weight loss as it does to education, exercise, skill enhancement, social development and any human-based endeavor you can imagine. It's simply a matter of choice--of choosing your focus and acting upon it.

You want to make more money? Do something to improve your long-term money-making abilities.

You want to have better health? Consistently do more things that enhance your health.

You want to become a better person? Then actually be a better person. The common link here is action in the form of practicing.

As for putting in the hours: An hour a day means about 360 hours a year; that's 9 workweeks. Simply invest 2 hours a day and you reach 18 workweeks' worth of practice. Think about that. Think hard about that. How much can you accomplish with 18 workweeks of your best effort put into your focus?

Now add this thought: How many people do you know actually do this?

Final thought: If becoming an expert is so doable, and doing so puts you ahead of the pack, then when are you going to get started on your expert-making?

The Jenius Has Spoken.