10,000 Hours: The Forgotten Part

We all have heard it takes 10,000 hours working on a skill to become an expert on it, yet:

• I have spent close to 10,000 hours behind the wheel of a car, yet I am no Michael Andretti.
• I have spent close to 10,000 hours singing, yet I still sound like a squealing pig.
• I have been walking my entire life, yet I would be hard pressed to finish a 10k.
• Insert many many many more.

Just putting in the time isn't enough. The time spent must be spent near the limit to illicit any growth, that is why I think competing is so important.

But it's hard.

That's why you can go into a gym and view many people who will look exactly the same months and years from now.

That's why you can go into a bowling league and find many bowlers who average the same as they did years ago.

I am guilty... I played guitar for "6" years, 1 year of learning and 5 years repeating that first year. I could have pushed more, but, in retrospect, I liked the idea of becoming an expert guitar player more than actually becoming an expert guitar player.

Now, I am working on becoming an expert software engineer and powerlifter(well working on that bodybuilding thing too), and I learned my lesson from my failed attempts at becoming the next Eddie Van Halen. I am working on my weaknesses, as opposed to spending time doing what I already know. 

Now, I spend my time bringing up that which is hindering my progress(my knee is hindering my squat, so spending more rehab/prehab time on that, which I had neglected in the past), learning complementary skills(learning graphic/web design), competing(hackathons, powerlifting meets and bodybuilding competitions) and just genuinely putting in the quality work.

10,000 hours is nice, but you have to fill those 10,000 hours with meaningful shit.