Conscious Savings

A habit is a choice made normal.

I recently finished listening to Malcolm Gladwell‘s new book Outliers - The Story of Success <Audio Edition> (yes I listen to a majority of the books I peruse, topic for another time). Which has already changed my life. I cannot remember a time when I have felt luckier for the random luck in my life, especially in my earlier years. It has truly acted as a humbling experience, in a truly positive way.

The Story of Success begins by searching out some of the most successful people in the world and finding a pattern than links them all together. World class performers within their field, some of whom managed to create new records and/or shape parts of our society in valuable ways. The common thread began with a magic number 10,000 hours. Ten thousand hours of practice is the difference between a beginner, and a true world class expert. Whether your a software programmer, violin player, lawyer or in another field entirely. If you stick in 10,000 hours of real work into your passion you can become one of the greats.

This may not seem like such a big number when you first think about it, 10 years at 40 hours a week and your there. The big differences between those that find a hobby and get good, and those that become great. While Malcolm wrote about several other topics in the book, this one hit me the hardest. Imagine working in a field for that long and not loving what you do. What a terrible waste.

If you find a task that you love to do and pick it up right now, you could likely be earning an income from it in 6 months to a year. If you were lucky enough to find something that you love when you were young, and have an environment where that skill could be nurtured what do you think you can accomplish?

If you want to become a great writer, start writing, a great artis(t|an) start creating. Nothing short of practice is going to take you from beginner to mediocre, and from there to greatness.