10,000 hours

The slide which made my heart race: 10,000 hours.

10,000 hrs = 417 days = 1.14 years (correct to 3 s.f.)

Apparently, quite a number of people read Outliers (by Malcolm Gladwell), as I heard a number of people muttering “Outliers” as Prof Ben flashed the slide. Back in December 2008, when I was reading this specific chapter of Outliers I recalled the conversation with my salsa coach.

Jw: I can remember equations and numbers very well, but memorizing a choreography is very different.
Coach: Just do it 1000 times.

He said it in such a casual way that no one would think that he is serious.

Jw (thought to myself): You must be f***ing kidding me.
Coach: Do the choreography 5 times non-stop which will take about 20 mins, take a 5 min break, then do it 5 times again. Do that for 3 hours.

At that point in time, I didn’t really believe that his method will work. It seems ridiculous, but I did it anyway. I was rather slow in memorizing choreography but after several such 3-hour-sessions, I perfected the choreography.

I guess anyone who has achieved a certain level of proficiency in any sport, game, performing art would be able to relate with my experience. However, 10,000 hours is not just about repetition. Running 1 hour a day for 10,000 days will undoubtedly increase the level of physical fitness in a person but the regime is unlikely to be sufficiently intense for one to attain a fitness level to compete internationally.

In my opinion, if there is a shortcut to success, it is clocking the 10,000 hours in the least number of days that makes people successful. When I first started salsa, I trained 5 hours a day for 5 whole months (including weekends and public holidays). No, I am not crazy, my coach is. After 5 months, I attained a standard that the average dancer will take at least 3 years to achieve if they were to do it once a week. I have to clarify that I have yet to clock anywhere near 10,000 hours dancing salsa and I do not consider myself to be “good” but rather “above average” when compared to other local dancers. The point that I am driving at is that learning curve is ALWAYS steep – Should you take a slow walk up OR sprint to overcome the steep learning curve asap?