Last updated on November 22, 2022
10,000 hours. That’s how long it takes to master a skill [1].Nine years of 4 hour time periods for five days a week. You may be thinking to yourself right now, “ NINE YEARS?” I can understand where you are coming from. In fact, thinking about it almost seems to demotivate some people. I am one of those people. Maybe you are too. But what if we change our perspectives on the situation. What if we think about it as a challenge, for those who like to set goals for themselves, where the reward is the profound knowledge of the skill and how to utilize it. What if we think of it as an investment of our time whose ROI(return on investment), is more than 100%. It doesn’t seem too bad now does it?
You may be asking yourself, “ where do I find 4 spare hours for 5 days a week for 9 years.” The answer is, it shouldn’t be hard if you are developing a skill you find interesting. Yes, I also understand that this may be absurd to say. We all have busy schedules, and we all have lots to complete in a 24 hour day. But, you see, the point of partaking in this skill mastering challenge isn’t to develop a skill you don’t like or don’t find any use too. Not only would that be a disservice to yourself, but it would also be, put in the nicest way possible, useless. What I am trying to say is that the workload of mastering this skill should not be burdensome if you truly desire to better yourself in something you love. The idea is to master a skill that you can fall in love with. You want to take the skill, master, it and then use it to your advantage in day to day life, whether it is about entrepreneurship, medicine, law, or entertainment. Become an icon that people in the field look up to.
Now, how do you stay motivated for nine years? Well my answer to this is you don’t have to stay motivated for nine years. Stay motivated for one year at a time, one month, or even one day at a time. I admit, I don’t have any experience in a field like this, as I would have to have started at age 7 in order to complete this dare. But like many of us, I have goals for myself, and in order to stay motivated with those goals, I like to think about where I want to be one year from today. I think about myself one year from now, and think about how I would feel if I started today, or how bad I would feel if I quit today. This is what works for me, but some like to focus on improving themselves to be better than the previous day, and to me, that is also wonderful.
Lastly, why am I telling you guys all this information? Well, think about your age right now. For my younger audience, say 16-20 years old. By your mid twenties to late twenties, you will already be a leader in your skill of choice, and will be able to market that skill and teach it to others: and you are still incredibly young! The same goes for my older audience of all ages. Imagine the power you will possess at such a young age! It doesn’t matter what time you start at, as there is no such thing as too young or too young. What matters is that you try to improve yourself everyday. I am a firm believer in the saying that goes something like “ the day you start learning is the day you stop getting better and the day you plateau.” Why do I live by this? Because no one should ever stop learning. Our greatest minds, our greatest leaders, and our greatest inspirations all say that they continue to learn new things everyday. So why should we decide when we stop learning and cap our capability. We shouldn’t: that’s the simple answer.
One last word to leave you with. Whatever it is that you are doing, whether it is taking part in this challenge or working on a long term or short term goal, do not stop. Trust me, there is nothing better than the satisfaction of feeding that hunger that you have had for several for months or years. When you look at what you have accomplished, you will thank yourself. Go master that skill.
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