When opportunity meets preparation: The 10,000 hours principle

On many days, life presents us with opportunities. We sometimes are unprepared, or fail to recognise them

You may have heard the quote "Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation" by Zig Ziglar. This is one thing you may have heard over and over again, but one which can not be overflogged. The place of adequate preparation is one of great importance.

Earlier this year, I read the book "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, from which I learnt a lot about this topic. In his book, Gladwell, following intensive research, cited examples of individuals who have done exceptionally well in their fields, and the role adequate preparation played in their successes.

One of the examples cited was that of The Beatles, one of the most famous rock bands and best selling band in history. When the band moved from London to the US to play at clubs, they played for an average of 8 hours, for 270 nights in about 2 years. This time gave them the opportunity to constantly improve on their craft, thus that by the time they had their first burst of success, they had performed live an estimated 1200 times, making them adequately prepared by the time the opportunity came by.

Another was the example given of violinists at the Berlin’s elite Academy of Music. A study was conducted, which divided the school’s violinists into three groups. The first group contained the "stars", being those with the potential to become world class soloists. The second group contained those described to be "merely good", while the last group was made up of the students who were unlikely to ever play professionally and who intended to be public school music teachers. Members of all three groups were then asked the same question, being "Over the course of your entire career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practiced? The answers given varied.

Everyone from all three groups started playing at roughly the same age, around five years old. In those first few years, everyone practiced roughly the same amount, about two or three hours a week. But when the students were around the age of eight, real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up the best in their class began to practice more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight hours a week by age twelve, sixteen hours a week by age fourteen, and up and up, until by the age of twenty they were practicing—that is, purposefully and single-mindedly playing their instruments with the intent to get better—well over thirty hours a week. In fact, by the age of twenty, the elite performers had each totaled ten thousand hours of practice. By contrast, the merely good students had totaled eight thousand hours, and the future music teachers had totaled just over four thousand hours.

The violinists who did exceptionally well, being the "stars", had dedicated a significant amount of time to improve their craft.

A few days ago, I had a discussion with a friend, who had gotten several tech related internships and full time roles in reputable companies. He started learning how to programme in his first year in the university (he is currently in his final year), having no particular tech related opportunity in mind. He did this consistently for years, being self-taught. By the time the opportunities came around, he happened to be adequately prepared, possessing the necessary skills, for the roles intended to be filled.

The talent being referred to here could be innate or one you worked hard to develop. Regardless of which it is, work hard to position yourself for the opportunity should the opportunity arise. It doesn't necessarily need to be the "10,000 hours" posited by Gladwell. It is more about spending adequate time developing your skills.

Some days ago, I had a discussion with another friend, who happens to be a student too. Last year, he wanted to apply for a certain opportunity, however the questions asked in the application required him to have held a number of leadership roles, of which he had none. So he was unable to send in his application. Moving forward, he consciously took up some leadership roles this year, thus that when the opportunity comes around again this year (it's an annual programme), he would possess the necessary skills to apply, and ultimately get picked.

The truth is, I acknowledge the role of luck. Nevertheless, being adequately prepared cannot be watered down or downplayed. Pick that one thing you have interests in or desire, and develop skills necessary in that area. Be intentional about your goals.

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