Malcolm Gladwell Says it Takes 10,000 Hours to Master Something

His theory has been debunked, thankfully. (This is great news since I’ve been working towards my new musical goals.)

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the popular book Outliers wrote that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in anything. He said 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” are needed to become world-class in any field. He explained,

“Having access to getting 10,000 hours of practice allowed the Beatles to become the greatest band in history (thanks to playing all-night shows in Hamburg) and Bill Gates to become one of the richest dudes around (thanks to using a computer since his teen years).”

Gladwell explained that reaching the 10,000-Hour Rule, which he considers the key to success in any field, is simply a matter of practicing a specific task that can be accomplished with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years.

10 years?? EEK!

He added, “In order to master any craft you must dedicate time daily to focus on ‘nothing else’ but that…”

Nothing else but? Hmm.