The 10 000 hour principle

I have just completed reading (actually I “cheated” and listened to the audio book while driving to and from work) the book – The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Even though I do not hold to all his thoughts and theories, it was a very enjoyable and thought provoking read. A must!

I was particularly interested in Chapter 2, where he unpacks the theory that it takes 10 000 hours to become a master in a chosen field. He backs this statement with research done on violin students. All violinists began playing at 5 years of age with similar amount of practice; a few minutes here and there. By the age of 8, the amount of practice time varied and by the age of 20, the elite performers averaged more than 10 000 of practice each. At this stage amateur performers had only done 4 000  hours of practice. According to the research, this was all irrespective of natural talent.

To add to this theory, Gladwell discusses that Bill Gates and Paul Allen’s rise to fame with Microsoft was due to the unlimited access they had to a computer terminal in 1968, while in still grade 8. In 1968, not even college IT professors had that kind of accesses. So by the time of launching Microsoft in 1975, Gates and Allen had acquired their 10 000 hours of practice. Gladwell explains how practice makes improvements by using the Beatles story. In 1960, the unknown band went to play in local clubs in Hamburg, Germany…8 hour gigs, 7 nights a week. Therefore by 1964, when they burst onto the international scene they had played over 1200 gigs together which is far greater than any other band gets in their entire career. This practice time allowed them to grow the skills of what audiences demanded; quite important to a rock band. Finally Gladwell points out that the elite do not just work harder, at some point the elites fall in love with the practice and do little else with their time.

So at this point I ask where are you logging your hours of practice? “10 000 hours, that is too much time!”, I hear the common excuse. Yet 40 hours a week over 5 years, which is normal business hours, is what will do it for you. Sadly we know that majority of people do not immerse themselves in something they love.

Why is this important to me? The chiropractic principle says “all healing takes time”. All chronic problems with any body system that step into my office need to realise that it will take time to resolve their pain and symptoms and even more time to set the new “life without pain” habit in place. There are no quick fixes, silver bullets or magic cures to this!

Who is ready to immerse themselves in the healing process and love every minute of the journey?