Achieving a Level of Mastery Raising the Barr Weekly Memo: Issue 472

I began my education majoring in music as a guitarist before deciding to change direction and pursue a degree in computer science and software development. I devoted thousands of hours practicing the guitar over the years to reach a level of mastery and surrounding myself with great talented teachers and influencers helped accelerate the process.

It was a similar scenario when I started my journey of software development and subsequently launching my first company. Reaching a level of mastery in that field took years and lots of trial and error while communicating and studying the leaders in the field.

Several years ago, I read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, where he said that mastery comes after someone practices one skill – like playing the violin – for 10,000 hours.

As I observe my most successful clients, it is apparent to me that the most successful of them invest huge amounts of time in continual study, improving their skills, and reaching a level of mastery in several areas.

My take is that Gladwell’s 10,000 hours concept is somewhat of a myth and the number is arbitrary. I believe that we can all dramatically improve multiple skills that we are passionate about in much less than 10,000 hours.

The key components are:

Awareness – Identifying the areas of interest with clarity
Passion – Loving what we do and having a sense of purpose
Focus – Devoting our attention in a precise manner
Practice – Dedicating time and energy to improve our skills and knowledge
Execute – Proceed with intense action taking 

What areas have you achieved a level of mastery and which other areas are you continuing to work towards that goal?

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