The Route to Expertise - The 10000 hour rule!

 ‘How I’d like to be a Virat Kohli or Lionel Messi,’ said Rahul. ‘What do they have bhaiyya that we don’t?’

‘Expertise Rahul,’ said Rakesh. ‘If you want to be one, you must work hard like them.’

‘Bhaiyya, are you saying such talented people work hard to become experts?’ asked Rinku.

‘Yes Rinku,’ said Rakesh. ‘There’s a study about high performers in various fields - surgery, chess, writing, music etc – edited by Professor K Anders Ericsson, an expert on expertise. The conclusion is that experts are made, not born. Roughly, one needs a minimum of ten years or 10000 hours of intense training to become an expert.’

‘Wow,’ said Rahul. ‘If I practice for 10000 hours will I become an expert bhaiyya?’

‘That’s definitely a big step towards it. But more important than quantity is the quality of your practice. It’s not practice that makes you perfect but perfect practice that makes you perfect.’

‘What’s that bhaiyya?’ asked Rahul.

‘Simple, if you practice the wrong things you’ll become an expert in the wrong things,’ laughed Rakesh. ‘But if you practice right you get perfect. Experts do what is called deliberate practice where they work on two things – improving skills they already have and more importantly practicing things they cannot do. Apart from perfecting what they already know, they put in specific, sustained effort on things they can’t do well. They constantly think and practice deliberately to eliminate all weaknesses.’

‘Can anyone become an expert bhaiyya?’ asked Rinku. ‘Don’t you need talent? And passion?’

‘I’m assuming one is really passionate and reasonably good to devote ten years to perfect a skill,’ said Rakesh. ‘Becoming an expert is tough. It requires a lot of effort, sacrifice, struggle. You need to be open to constant, painful, feedback. What definitely helps is an early start, dedicated teachers and supportive families.’

‘Bhaiyya, do these experts practice 12 hours a day?’ asked Rinku.

‘Actually no,’ said Rakesh. ‘Deliberate practice requires high levels of concentration. It needs you to analyse and find improvements continuously. Some experts have even been known to work intensely for two to four hours a day. A good coach can help to find optimal levels of practice, identify next level skills and coach you so you can self-correct on your own. As you grow, you may need different coaches at different levels.’

‘What about all my previous practice bhaiyya?’ asked Rahul. ‘Is that wasted?’

‘Rahul, your earlier preparation certainly helps,’ said Rakesh. ‘But it’s not about counting the hours. What matters is the quality of deliberate practice - perfecting a particular aspect of your skill each time you practice with intense involvement and awareness.’

‘Time to start deliberate practice,’ said Rinku. ‘I hope our chaimaker is deliberately practicing making some excellent chai.’

Pro Tip: Experts are made, not born. It requires a minimum of ten years or 10000 hours of intense training, deliberate practice and constant work on specific skills.  

 

Exercise: To become really good at something adopt deliberate practice. Pick one aspect of what you want to gain expertise at and practice it correctly with complete focus for an hour. Continue doing this until you see a marked change from your previous ‘good enough’ ability to way better. When your strengths are considerably strengthened, work on your weak areas.

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