The 10,000 Hour Rule

Are you familiar with Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 Hour Rule? It's from his book OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS.
     It basically states that the best way to achieve international stardom is to spend 10,000 hours honing your skills. And he cites numerous examples, especially in the sports arena, of people who have done it.
     As my career has grown and I've gotten closer to actually having devoted 10,000 hours to creating children's books, my hubbie and I have been talking about this 'rule' quite a bit. Am I where I should be considering the work I've put in? Can one expect to be at a certain level of success by a certain time? Is there any such thing?
     To quote the article - as Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, said those who put in many hours of practice effectively make their own luck: “They work relentlessly hard, which means when their luck comes they are ready for it.”
     Now that, I do believe. Although I ADORE what I do, I work pretty darn hard and there are many good things that have happened in my career simply because I was prepared when an opportunity arose.
     As for the rest of it? I'm getting closer to 10,000 hours and I'm watching!

5 comments:

Suzanne Lieurance said...

Hi, Elizabeth,

I think it helps if what you're trying to be successful at is something you have a passion for. And I can't imagine you NOT illustrating or writing, even if you weren't successful. You just LOVE what you're doing too much!

But I think you're destined to more and more success! You'll probably put in 10,000 hours - but that's because you LOVE what you do - and greater and greater levels of success will naturally follow.

Elizabeth O Dulemba said...

Thanks Suzanne! And it is true - I love what I do. It's obvious you love what you do too considering the success of Book Bites for Kids and the National Writing for Children Center. And maybe that's the key - it's not just 10,000 at SOMETHING - it's 10,000 hours at the thing you couldn't imagine not doing. 10,000 hours on your PASSION.
Anyhow - thanks for the encouraging words!
:)
e

Deebi27 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deebi27 said...

Elizabeth you will continue to make your marks in this world. Your fans (young and old)adore what you do and we are all in a better world because of you. You enlighten not only the paper craft world, but the world that I believe everything one wishes to learn about is in a book somewhere! Thanks you...long live Elizabeth

Elizabeth O Dulemba said...

Aw man - you guys ROCK. Thanks so much for the kind words. You made my DAY!!!
Hugs, hugs,
e