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Hello dear blog readers! The desire to improve one’s own professionalism is born not only due to vanity, but also due to huge competition. People attend a huge number of master classes and training programs. They earn diplomas and certificates only in order to keep their position, while not paying attention to improving the quality of the services provided.
There is a theory in psychology that 10000 hours are required to achieve mastery. It turns out that in order to become a professional, you will need to practice the chosen direction for 20 hours a week for 10 years.
Scientific substantiations of the theory
The pattern of the need to practice 10000 hours is described in the book by Malcolm Gladwell, the main direction of which is to identify life strategies that form brilliant professionals and losers. The concept is based not so much on the innate talent of a person, but on his perseverance and personal efforts in achieving mastery.
This principle is confirmed by the psychological research of Erickson. He found that the quality of playing by violinists is directly affected by the amount of time devoted to practicing the instrument. Studies were conducted among other professions, showed the same results.
At the moment, the 10000 hour rule is globally accepted and used not only in self-improvement programs, but also in the design of the educational process for students.
This law is supported by rules and features from other areas:
- Qualitative changes require a long time — the psychophysiological characteristics of the body are not adapted to sudden changes. That is why new neural connections, movements, automatic skills and abilities cannot be formed in one, albeit intense training.
- The strengthening of new neural connections, which are directly responsible for the successful implementation of a new activity, occurs during sleep.
- Psychological overload of consciousness from the receipt of a large amount of information at a time blocks its perception. That is why all activities should be dosed and included in the daily schedule.
And the last thing that confirms the theory about the need for 10000 hours is a person’s working capacity, the effectiveness of which is limited to 6-8 hours, after which it is impossible to qualitatively assimilate new information and implement existing skills.
Criticism of the approach
However, do not forget about the criticism of this approach. Agree that not only the time spent on practice determines the level of professionalism. Of great importance are:
- intellectual level;
- age of commencement of practical activity;
- intensity and frequency of practice;
- awareness and motivation of the actions performed;
- genetically inherent talents and abilities;
- personality and character traits.
But, despite all these warnings, the theory is very popular. After all, people, as before, will trust their lives to a doctor with extensive experience, and even choose a hairdresser based on the reviews of existing clients.
What to do to succeed?
It is necessary to take into account objective physical limitations and the reality of events. It just seems that if you devote each of your working days to the chosen activity for 8 hours, then after 5 years you can develop the required number of skills.
Reality confronts us with the fact that in fact there are lunch breaks, news discussions with colleagues and phone calls. In addition, we sometimes get sick and do not spend all our working time directly in the professional field. So it turns out that under optimal circumstances, we get about 10 spent years.
However, without wanting to waste so much time, the 10000 hour law can be met by following these guidelines:
- Tune in to long-term work, while identifying for yourself significant points that signal the development and achievement of new heights (categories, scientific degrees, a certain number of successful operations, an increase in fees, etc.).
- Create an ongoing program of practice for yourself, whether the activity is your hobby or your profession. Great results can be achieved with classes 3 times a week for a couple of hours, than once every six months to do all day long.
- Determine your maximum intensity level and always work within these limits. Too weak loads will delay your development, and excessively intense ones will lead to mental and emotional overwork.
- Look for sources of motivation and diversity in your activities. The main thing is to be able to maintain a keen interest in what is happening in life, and not monotonously perform the same action a million times.
Conclusion
Be attentive to yourself and do not waste precious hours of your life on something that will not be useful in the end. Be happy, read interesting and useful information, subscribe to our blog. Here you will find hundreds of articles about motivation, self-discipline and self-realization.
For example, we recommend reading an article about methods for developing rational thinking.
Until next time!