Where will you be in ten years?

[theatokos]

Adam and I listened to a presentation on line by Malcolm Gladwell. He was speaking at a design conference and generally it was an overview of his latest book. The gist was that it takes 10,000 hours of effort to create genius - which is approximately 4 hours every day for 10 years. I am going to listen to this talk again, it is so inspiring. My arts group has had this ongoing discussion about genius for a while now. There is this misconception that genius just IS, but no, that's not really true. Genius takes cultivation.

So where might I be in 10 years? Where might you be in 10 years? How do I put 4 solid, focused hours a day into anything while mothering a small child? Perhaps my genius will burst forth in 20 years. Rarely does anything brilliant just HAPPEN. It takes practice, revision, effort, and lots of time for mistakes and attempts that never see the light of day. It's all very, very unsexy. We seem to want to be *discovered* or prodigies. But genius is cultivated, daily.

I feel really inspired now. Listen for yourself.

Comments

[norasma.livejournal.com]

I've heard this on CBC, but then I started thinking about using four hours a day to hone a skill... "what will it be???..." then I realized that I only have time to do one thing for four hours a day. I will be a genius parent in 10 years. Maybe I'll have my third child at 36....

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing! I will rule at parenting!

[mz-seshet.livejournal.com]

Feri makes practice and effort very sexy - don't you think?

[ewigweibliche.livejournal.com]

Sort of. But usually only in an outcome based way. The effort of sitting practice every stinkin' day can feel tremendously UNsexy.