The long road to becoming an expert!

10000 hours or nothing

Hey guys,

So there’s a popular saying that in order to be an expert at something you have to put 10000 hours of work into it (Ed Sheeran even talks about this theory here). I can’t argue with that, but that’s an insane amount of time to put into one thing. Besides, that’s if you want to be an expert. Who even counted the hours? What if you just want to be good enough or ‘not bad’? How many hours will you need then?

Sorry, but I’m slightly cranky this Monday morning (May 8, 11:57 am as I write this). Partly because I have a big week coming up. Plus I need to finish all my tasks and meet deadlines. Add to that how bad I still am at getting the hang of making videos which I'm still learning. Enough reasons to be on edge, yeah?

It takes ten thousand hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more proficient you are the more valuable you’ll be. - Malcolm Gladwell

Back to the 10000 hours rule. Are you supposed to exactly meet 10000? I don’t know if I’ve spent that much on photography. On second thought, I think I have (It’s been 4 years). I certainly don’t think I’m an expert even if my photo-taking and editing skills have gotten much better. Also, how do you know you’ve reached “expert” level? What makes an expert?

I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions. And I’m not going to even try doing the maths to determine how many days or years of practice I need to become an expert in something. I do agree that the more time you spend doing something makes you better at it. It’s just that 10000 hours sounds so much like a rule. One that says no one can get good at something until they’ve crossed the 10000-hour mark. A very strange rule. What if you cross the finish line and you’re still not good?

forgive my bad drawings…it’s really clear I haven’t spent up to 10 hours drawing😁

As I said, I’m not in the best of moods this morning. I feel overwhelmed and in truth, I may be misinterpreting this 10000-hour thing. I’m sure I am. I think it’s purely motivational and not necessarily a benchmark to get to. To get good at something requires consistency over a long period of time. Some people learn faster than others. But the amount of consistent hours you put in can make all the difference.

Besides I’m learning videography for me. I just want to. I don’t really need to. I’m not planning to go make movies or something. It’s just an extension of my photography and an additional way for me to tell stories. So I’m going to try and improve with each new video. On busy weeks like this, I’ll make videos if I can. If not, then maybe next week. And we’ll see if I become an expert when I eventually cross the 10000-hour mark.

Hope you all have a great week. Please feel free to reply to this email or leave a comment below if you are reading this directly on Substack. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

x

ash.

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P.S. - Remember how I said in last week’s email that I won’t share this newsletter until I write a certain number of letters? Well, that plan is now ruined. The newsletter is now out there. And I’ve gotten some new subscriptions from members of my family. I would have shared the link eventually anyway so it’s all good.

it’s going to be a loooong week!