Keep “preparing” and keep the faith…

Earlier this year, I read the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, from which I learned a lot about this topic. In his book, Gladwell, following intensive research, cited examples of individuals who have done exceptionally well in their fields, and the role adequate preparation played in their successes…

A study was conducted, which divided the school’s violinists into three groups. The first group contained the “stars”, being those with the potential to become world class soloists. The second group contained those described to be “merely good”, while the last group was made up of the students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be public school music teachers. Members of all three groups were then asked the same question, being “Over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced?” The answers given varied.

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. I those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours per week. But when students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up, until by the age of twenty they were practicing—that is, purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better—well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totalled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totalled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totalled just over just over four thousand hours…

The truth is, I acknowledge the role of luck. Nevertheless, being adequately prepared can not be watered down or downplayed. Pick that one thing you have interest in or desire, and develop the skills necessary in that area. Be intentional about your goals.

—Praise Mbanali (Lawyer, Business Analyst at Boston consulting Group. Mbanali has developed certain community development projects, one of which is “Raise a Kid”, aimed at providing free based and quality education for underprivileged children. She also started the Students Spotlight Series podcast, which seeks to inspire others. The interviews take listeners through the journeys of others, to understand what they do/did that worked, certain challenges they faced and how they were able to navigate through)

Very compelling indeed. What stands out for me is desire. One would have to be particularly passionate about an endeavour to spend 10,000 hours at it. Just sayin’ :) Hugs. XO

Blessings,

Chatgirl