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Over the weekend I took a rock climbing class in Joshua Tree, CA. We had a great highly motivated instructor who had so much passion and knowledge for rock climbing. You could really tell that this is what he was meant to do with his life, and he has spent the last 20 years of his life doing it. He was definitely on my list of most inspiring teachers I have had. He was telling us that he has lived in joshua tree for the last 20 years to climb.
One thing he talked about was the 10,000 hours rule, which is that you only become an expert at something if you dedicate 10,000 hours to it. In about 20 years he has definetely spent 10,000 hanging off the ground clinging on to a rocky cliff.
This inspired me because I was trying to think if I have spent 10,000 hours doing something. I definitely have not. I was thinking, what if I did spend that long working on something. Would I be able to stick to one thing for that long? And what would that one activity be? It led me to think about what I would be so passionate about that I would like to spend 10 hours a day doing for 3 years.
For me that is a really tough one to answer... Knowing that I wouldn't be able to do it, I think I can aim towards it and cut the number of activities down and try to focus on the essentials. With this idea I would cut out the bullshit in my life and utilize my 16 hours per day on things that matter. I don't think I would ever go to the extreme of my instructor, because thats just insane, and I feel you miss out on a bunch of other things in life.
If you look at people who are really good at something, they do put their whole life into it. Whether it's professional athletes, workaholics, or good parents, they all are experts at what they do, and it's the hours put in that got them there. There aren't any shortcuts or tricks to the system, you just need to put in the hours.
And here's another thing. Apparently those Joshua Trees are about 500 years old. They grow extremely slow because of the low water and desert conditions. But in 500 years, you have yourself a crazy unique looking tree. Just another reminder that good things take time!!