10,000 Hours
For a long time I have been interested in the idea of talent verses work. I believe that talent is over-rated and hard work is under-rated. Some research at Florida State University has born this out. FSU researches have determined that it takes about 10,000 hours to learn a difficult skill. In other words, to become a top golfer, surgeon, musician, or photographer, it takes about 10,000 hours of diligent work and practice.
If you practice every night during the week and all day on Saturday’s, you would reach 10,000 hours in about 20 years. If you are in medical school, 10,000 hours is about 5 years. So this number seems about right. And practice is not just piddling around. It must be diligent and disciplined work with a purpose.
A few people like Tiger Woods or Mozart were able to get in their 10,000 hours before they were 21 years-old so people called them prodigies. For others of us, it has taken many years to develop the skills that we need to be considered “talented.”
The top musicians I know can pretty much point to this number of 10,000 hours, along with the quality of the time spent, as the secret. Twenty hours per week for 10 years equals 10,000 hours for example.
In photography, great pictures are not a result of having an expensive camera, no more than a good golf score comes from expensive clubs. But rather, outstanding photos come from years of hard work and practice.
I got my first camera in 1958 and got my first job in photography in 1971. I have spent practically every day since then trying to make better photographs. That’s a lot of hours.
If you practice every night during the week and all day on Saturday’s, you would reach 10,000 hours in about 20 years. If you are in medical school, 10,000 hours is about 5 years. So this number seems about right. And practice is not just piddling around. It must be diligent and disciplined work with a purpose.
A few people like Tiger Woods or Mozart were able to get in their 10,000 hours before they were 21 years-old so people called them prodigies. For others of us, it has taken many years to develop the skills that we need to be considered “talented.”
The top musicians I know can pretty much point to this number of 10,000 hours, along with the quality of the time spent, as the secret. Twenty hours per week for 10 years equals 10,000 hours for example.
In photography, great pictures are not a result of having an expensive camera, no more than a good golf score comes from expensive clubs. But rather, outstanding photos come from years of hard work and practice.
I got my first camera in 1958 and got my first job in photography in 1971. I have spent practically every day since then trying to make better photographs. That’s a lot of hours.
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