I'm reading Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. It's just the kind of social psychology that I love.
One of the things that he talks about a lot is that most exceptional people (like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many, less well known but equally successful people) have put in a minimum of 10,000 hours to perfect their expertise, their craft, their area of study.
The things that make a job fulfilling are: "autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward". I would agree wholeheartedly. The only thing wrong with the 10,000 hours that I've already put in (it takes a pretty intense 10 years) is that they are SO SCATTERED! How do you get really good at anything when you are doing 1000 things? Any Mom will tell you that her job description is as long as her forearm. Does this mean it takes 20,000 hours for a Mom to be exceptional? That sounds about right...the kids will be out of the house by then, and I'll just be hitting my stride.
3 comments:
I've not yet read this--but I've read his other books. And THIS is where my husband got the "if you want to be good...10,000 hours" quote from. Aha! That's 5 years of working full time at something. Perhaps I have that stick-to-it-tiveness...but like you, am constantly interrupted by my kids and chores. I'm darn good at those things though!
Ha, just when they are ready to leave we'll get it right!
I just want to know when you have time to read??!!! I have a stack of 6 or 7 books I'd love to dive into.....maybe next week??
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