The Ten Thousand Hours Rule

Experts are of the opinion that it takes ten thousand hours to master your craft or to become a pacesetter in your profession. The newsmakers you know today have been praticing and failing in the secret before they finally succeeded. It took thousands of hours for them to succeed.

I strongly believe that waiting for God to do what He has empowered us to do is the reason Africa is wallowing in abject poverty in the midst of plenty. People who teach favour and fail to balance it with labour are raising individuals who wants to succeed without paying the required price.

No wonder gambling and sports betting is booming. We tell people that hard work is bad, that they should pray and belive God for a miracle. That’s not the complete truth. Everyone that was favoured in the Bible was busy before favour showed up.

Idleness is a one-way ticket to the city of regret. Anyone who wants something for nothing will soon become an armed robber or a swindler. It takes hard work for things to work. You can’t get out of life what you did not put in it.

Every world-class expert in any field has one thing in common: they invested approximately ten thousand hours polishing their skill. Michael Phelps, an American swimmer won 23 gold medals right from Athens Olympics in 2004 to Rio Olympics in 2016. In fact, he won 8 gold medals at Beijing Olympics in 2008 which is a world record.

I’m very sure that some of us would like to be like him. Right? Well, before you start dreaming of becoming another Michael Phelps, let me tell you his secret; he practices with his coach for five to six hours daily from January to December! While you are claiming your miracles (which is not bad) he is busy developing himself. When he appears on the global scene, he simply does what he is familiar with. That is why he is a global icon.

Each one of us has the potential to become a pacesetter. But it generally takes about ten thousand hours of focused effort and deliberate practice on a specific craft to stand out in your profession.

Just like Michael Phelps, the world’s best tennis players have spent about ten thousand hours developing themselves. The world’s best golfers have spent about ten thousand hours on their golfing performance to become stars. The world’s best scientists have immersed themselves in their subject for about ten thousand hours, and that devotion has made them appear so brilliant.

The world’s best artists have spent about ten thousand hours tightly concentrated on practicing their skill—and given that intensity of action, they reach the point where they play like pro. The world’s best footballers have spent roughly ten thousand hours in private training, that is why they preform wonders in a football match.

Douglas Costa, Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammate at Juventus said this about him; “It is impossible to follow Cristiano Ronaldo in training. When we arrive, he is already training, when we leave he is still training, I have never seen a player like that.”

Michael Jordan to me is the greatest basketball player ever. Air Jordan made a lot of people, including me to have interest in basketball. How did he become a star? Michael Jordan practices for five to six hours daily! There is no magic about success. If you pay the required price you will definitely succeed.

Ten Years Strategy

Every year, you have 525,600 minutes and 8,760 hours. In ten years’ time, you will have 87,600 hours. Out of that number of hours in ten years, devote 20,000 hours to deliberate and well-designed personal development program. I mean, out of your share of 8,760 hours in a year, use 2,000 hours (5 hours daily) to improve yourself. If you do that for the next ten years, nobody can match your expertise in your profession.

The ten thousand hours rule can easily be called the ten years strategy. Use the next ten years to focus on being the best in your profession. A business owner should sign up for a one-year coaching program to improve his managerial capacity. Just design a ten-year personal development program for yourself and follow it religiously.

But how many people are willing to do that in a quick-fix and miracle hunting world we live in? Everyone wants to be very wealthy immediately. Everyone wants the rewards right now. I am sure that someone that is reading this article now has either back to sender oil or get rich quick anointing oil. That is why people don’t succeed in successions.

Mastery takes time, effort, and persistence. Too many people don’t want to make the commitment. Some started the process but gave up too soon. And they wonder why they never became superstars in their profession.

And rather than taking responsibility for their failure to do what it takes to stand out, they make excuses and blame things like the economy, their boss, their enemies or the competitive nature of their industry. Or they blame their parents, their lineage or race.

Pacesetters spend the best hours of the best years of their lives making sacrifices required to stand out. They get up early. They practice relentlessly and ferociously. While others are playing or watching television, they are busy improving themselves. While others are sleeping or enjoying themselves, they are busy paying the required price for exploits.

Superstars have one thing in common—they focus on becoming very good at their craft and they do it for many years. They pay the price that success demands. They do whatever it takes to get the job done. Now that they have gotten to the peak of their career, their friends and acquaintances will start gossiping about them, and others will simply say they are lucky. They simply created their own luck.

There are treasures that are crying for expression on the inside of us. We all have the capability to become superstars. But only few us are ready to discipline themselves and pay the required price in order to give those treasures wings to soar to greater heights.

What is the way out?

Design a personal development program for yourself. Read books, attend conferences and seminars, sign up for newsletters, and more importantly, sign up for Thrive Executive Coaching Program immediately. Simply chat with me with the phone number on the handbill below. Every one of us, whether you are a business owner, banker, teacher, an architect, medical doctor, lawyer, civil servant, industrialist etc., there are trainings on the handbill below that will help you to become a superstar in your generation!