Today's Post

16 September 2009

10,000 hrs

In the book of Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, he talked about popular experts and their field of expertise. He theorized that they became such because they may have spent 10,000 hrs of their lives doing that particular skill.

No, I haven't read that book, but a friend shared it with me. The following conversation transpired from the same topic:

j: Bill Gates, during his HS years, he spent 5 years, 8 hrs a day just tinkering with pc and programming.
k: what? if that's the case, then i may never be an expert of anything!
j: well, it doesn't have to be that mainstream. it could be, expert on listening. soft skills...
k: if that's just to make me feel better, it's not working. maybe i could work on becoming jack of all trades. or not.
j: what if! we reach 10,000 hrs of making someone happy!
k: :)
...
k: then i should start counting!
j: here's the basic stuff, if in 365 days, you make people happy for an hour, in 27 years, you would have accumulated 10,000 hrs. so in your 50's you'd be an expert.
k: can't i count my childhood years? what if my parents were constantly happy with me when i was a baby. Indirect proportional, as i grow old they were getting less and less happy with me. haha!
j: hmm. now if everyday you make an hour, 4 hours on weekends, you become an expert in 20 years!
k: which means i'll be a sure expert when I'm 40 years old already.

10,000 hrs of making someone happy --- creating a trail of happiness has never been this precise and geeky.

3 ruffleschmuffled:

Camille said...

I love it! So geeky and yet so inspiring. :D It's TED.com-worthy.

And yes, I base my standards on TED now. Nyah!

Prayed for your intention! Should I continue?

Karen said...

Mimi! thank you for your prayers. :) yes, please? :)

hahah ted.com-worthy! what an honor.

Camille said...

Sure, of course. I pray for you naman e. Hey kid, our campaign against the RH Bill is still not yet over. My golly!!! Anyways, I'll be writing some things about it soon as much as time will allow.

But I still have the feeling it won't push through, 'cause hello, everyone will be preoccupied with the elections na next year. Sorry na lang sila. ;) Pero syempre, we shouldn't take our chances.