It generally takes people about 10,000 hours of effort to achieve mastery in a given field. How far along are you?
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The video for this article comes from the show Business Rockstars hosted by Ken Rutkowski. Business Rockstars is a daily radio show that interviews entrepreneurs of all different industries and backgrounds.
Who comes to mind when you think of mastery? What’s your mental image? Do you see yourself?
The world is filled with self-proclaimed “experts” who believe they’ve got it all figured out. But how many of them put in the effort to earn that title? How many of them have put in the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to say, “I really know what I’m doing,” and legitimately mean it?
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My experience is that many who claim it haven’t put in the time and that many who don’t claim it have. I find it astonishing how many people have deep knowledge and wizardly skills but don’t own this reality. While simply working someplace a long period of time doesn’t equate to mastery, working hard for a sustained period of time with the intention of getting better does. Many people have put in the work but don’t even consider themselves good.
How about you?
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Back to Gladwell’s idea, where have you put in 10,000 hours? What do you really know how to do? In which area of your life have you done the deal?
Do it now. Make a list. You might be surprised. When did this exercise for myself a few weeks ago I calculated that I’ve worked with over 1,000 successful entrepreneurs for approximately 30,000 hours during the last 15 years. I almost fell over. Not only is that not nothing–so to speak–it’s really something. It’s tremendous dedication, hard work, and perseverance. I’ve gotten better because of my serious effort. The world needs to know about this.
And the world needs to know about you. How have you achieved mastery?