10,000 hours to greatness

According to neurologist Daniel Levitin, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert. Researchers have found this to be true across the board, whether it's athletes, musicians, chess players, composers, etc.

I, personally, am working towards expertise in sex. Because, after all, it's what I like to do. And to spend that much damn time doing one thing, you have to have a fierce passion for it. I truly love sex, I always have. In a loving relationship, that is, not just sex for the sake of sex. To me that is empty. Which may sound fuddy duddy to some, but then again, perhaps they haven't read my posts about vanilla sex or sacred sex.

Anyway....back to greatness. Apparently there is much more to achieving greatness than just putting in the time, says Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, which I started reading this week. What are the magical ingredients? I've already touched on passion, that's a no-brainer. 10,000 hours of anything, except sleep, requires some pretty serious wanting. In this book, Gladwell uncovers the secrets behind the making of extremely successful people.

Exposure to opportunity is one crucial factor. Timing is another. When a person is born often plays a significant role in exposing them to the right opportunities. This is usually followed a snowball effect wherein early opportunities lead to higher achievement which then brings forth even more opportunities.

Surprisingly, talent is less important than you might think. Of course these individuals have some natural ability to begin with (or else they'd lack the neccesary passion in the first place), but research shows that their degree of talent is not proportional to their degree of success.

I found these facts very cool indeed. I can always appreciate seeing new explanations for things. I'm not going to go into great detail about the book here--read it for yourself to find out more. However, I couldn't help but question the assumption he makes.

Gladwell clearly associates greatness with success. Well, who's to say that any of these greats are truly successful? Sure, in all his examples, these folks ended up filthy rich. But let's not confuse success with money. Let's assume these people are successful because they are fulfilling their passion. They continue to invest their time perfecting their expertise for the simple joy that that action brings them.

Which brings me back to sex......