How to become insanely great in your chosen field

Malcolm Gladwell writes in his best-selling book Outliers: “For over a generation, psychologists throughout the world have been engaged in a passionate dispute over a subject that most of us would assume to have been settled years ago. 

Is there such a thing as intrinsic talent? Yes is the obvious response.

According to Gladwell, “achievement is talent plus preparation”

Everyone automatically assumes that the most successful individuals we know possess some innate talent that sets them apart from the competition.

In reality, many successful individuals likely achieved their level of success with little to no effort.  They most likely inherited their talent, and none of the rest of us could achieve their level with such little effort.

And if we want to excel at what we do, we probably need some natural talent as well.

Does talent really matter?

The issue with this theory, according to Gladwell, is that the more closely psychologists examine the careers of the gifted, the less intrinsic talent appears to matter and the more training appears to matter.

In fact, it was discovered in a study conducted at a music institution that violinists who truly excelled, practised more than violinists who were considered ‘talented’

While all of the violin students had started taking lessons around the age of five, by the time they were about eight years old, the top students had begun to practise increasingly more than their peers. By the time they were twenty, these accomplished musicians had amassed a total of ten thousand hours of practise.

The average of the musical rivals? Only about 4,000 hours of practise each.

The results of this study have been replicated in a few different contexts, and the general conclusion is that those that succeed put in the most effort.

In all of these investigations, according to Gladwell, “no ‘naturals,’ musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practising a fraction of the time their peers did, could be found.” 

They were unable to locate any “grinds,” or those who put in more effort than anybody else but were still unable to advance.

Work harder than anyone else

This is a really helpful realisation: all it takes to excel at anything is to work a lot harder than anyone else.

This holds true for becoming the best violinist as well as, most likely, the best at almost anything else. Natural talent alone won’t propel you to the top.

What if you put in those 10,000 hours?  You almost certainly will be at the top.

Of course, it’s not as easy to casually invest 10,000 hours in your work. 

However, it is much simpler than having a predetermined set of skills from birth. 

Understanding the idea that all it takes to excel at something is to put in more time than everyone else offers you something you can control — a daily action you can undertake to become the best at what you do.

10,000 hours of grit & toughness

While knowing this idea gives you a huge advantage, it doesn’t imply that putting in 10,000 hours of work will be simple.

In actuality, it’s quite challenging and calls for a lot of grit and mental toughness.

In his book, Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds, ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance biker, triathlete, public speaker, and author David Goggins states it thus way:

“We all make routine, self-restricting decisions.  It is as commonplace as gravity and as organic as a sunset. It is due to the wiring of our brains. We are the sum of our habits.

When we decide not to practise the violin or something else that is dear to our hearts, we probably do so out of habit.

We are accustomed to avoiding uncomfortable situations. We often steer clear.

Avoid experiencing uncomfortable situations and you will likely fail try and never be truly great.

Failure is simply impossible if you put in the necessary practise and time.

Failure is only possible if you give up before achieving your goal. You will succeed if you continue to put in the effort. Therefore, it’s crucial to rewire your brain to have new habits rather than letting your fear-based habits control your behaviour. 

New strategies for dealing with challenging circumstances

When times are bad, your habit should be to lean forwards and press on rather than having your first instinct be to retreat.

Rewriting your behaviours is the only way to accumulate the mythical 10,000 hours and become successful.

In his self-help book, Tony Robbins teaches that in order to change your habits, you must first associate discomfort or unpleasant feelings with your old routine.

Because humans tend to avoid pain and gravitate towards pleasure, it will be much simpler to change our old behavioural patterns if we strongly negative emotions are associated with them.

The associating action is to ensure that “pleasure is fully associated with the new pattern,” according to Robbins. It’s difficult to believe that the 10,000-hour violinists didn’t genuinely love what they were doing. They undoubtedly were eager to get started with their practise for the day. 

It would have been incredibly challenging for them to put in those 10,000 hours if they didn’t appreciate their employment.

But a great deal of us live far too comfortable lives.

We are aware that we are capable of so much more, but we choose not to challenge our ingrained behaviours or fight against our ingrained patterns out of fear of the discomfort that comes with changing our habits.

Are you a warrior or a target?

Heraclitus, a Persian philosopher who lived in the fifth century BCE, is quoted by Goggins in a fantastic passage that wonderfully captures this occurrence.

‘Nine of every hundred men are the genuine combatants, and we are fortunate to have them since they make the battle. While the other eighty are just targets’

Anyone has the opportunity to work 10,000 hours and achieve success far beyond what the average person does.

Nothing remarkable about you from birth is necessary.

There is no need for ability or a “spark.” Just invest time.

Rarely do people actually put in that time, though.

Who will be the one person among 100 who stands out as remarkable. You will need to take the initiative to do something no one else will if you want to excel at what you do.  Those at the top have worked really hard. They have tried numerous times, failed, and then gotten back up to try again.

In actuality, individuals that put in 10,000 hours do not fail. They just experience small setbacks on the road to 10,000 hours.

So give up the need to visualise your success as an upward-moving linear line. Most likely, you won’t witness win after win after win. You’ll occasionally lose as well.

But it doesn’t matter because your objective should be to simply put in your hours rather than constantly achieving success or receiving positive feedback.

Put in your 10,000 hours and don’t stop working until you achieve your goals.

That is the only way to excel at what you do.