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It takes this long to become an expert

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This is probably a cliché, and you may be bored out of your eyes to read another story about hard work. We have had it many times that hard work pays. However, today I am going to be looking at how long or how much hours of hard work you need to do to be successful.

The Beatles. One of the most successful rock bands of their time. The 1960s saw them blossom into a worldwide phenomenon that everybody knows and I love. I can’t remember when I last heard their songs, but I know they revolutionized British rock. Did you know that two years before the time they made their breakthrough nobody heard of them in their home country?

How did they do it? If you read many of their biographies and autobiographies, you will find that they started off by playing shows in Hamburg. They played a total of 270 nights, 8 hours a day. That is more than 2160 hours in over one and a half years. This is excluding band practice time. In total they could have done more than 10,000 hours. Through this time they learnt a lot about rock and their fans.

Imagine going to perform in a different country where rock and roll was the least favorite music at the time. The Beatles managed that and after that they went to America and became a sensation. Computer techies like Bill Gates, Bill Joy and Steve Jobs also put in more than 10,000 hours in their profession and became the global icons we know today.

Therefore, if you haven’t guessed it so far, you need at least 10,000 hours to become an expert in your field. Do not do it for the fame and the glory. Do it, because it is what you love, it is your passion and you are grateful for it. Once you have mastered your craft, share it with the rest of the world. No matter the reactions, you will realize that the time you took to build yourself paid off.

The “10,000 hours” concept was built by Malcom Gladwell in his book The Outliers. He gives a summary and examples of people who have made it in their careers and their professions. One thing that stood out for him was that the “10,000 hours” rule applied to all of them.


It won’t be easy. 10,000 hours could be in 10 years or it can be done in two years. It is up to you. I am going to start applying this rule. I will see how it works and maybe write about it.

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