Become an Expert - Linchpin Series Part 2

“How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?” ― Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are you Indispensable? 

"Student in Silhouette" by @mikebaird via Flickr

Forget about 10,000 hours

Everyone seems to think Malcolm Gladwell told us we need 10,000 hours or the equivalent of 10-20 years practice to become an expert. This is a misquote. Gladwell said:

“To become a chess grandmaster also seems to take about ten years. And what’s ten years? Well, it’s roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice. Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.” — p. 41

The 10,000 hours he is referring to is the average time it takes to become the absolute best of the best in the world. Most of us don’t need a movie made about our lives. Becoming an expert in our field relative to our environment and competition is good enough, right? Shoot for the moon but don’t feel like a failure if no one calls you G.O.A.T.

Click through to read the full article about becoming an expert.

Ben Morris is the reigning Funniest Newminder (yes that’s a thing), a father, and is a new member of Newmind Group's Google Apps team. He holds a bachelor's degree in communications from Western Michigan University and is determined to uncover the secrets of how humor can help organizational communication.

Ben loves the great outdoors and spends his time outside of work camping and boating with his wife and three children. Contact him at ben@newmindgroup.com.