Yesterday, I wrote a post about feeling unappreciated at work I received some great comments from you on the post. It made me think, regardless of what anyone else think of my work, and regardless of if its recognized or not, it is still my worth. I realized that as long as I worked on that, I would never lose because that is the true value. Not in whether or not others see it, but in knowing that I have perfected my craft.

So, I decided today to take a note from one of my favorite books: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. One of the things I learned in the book that really touched me was the 10,000 Hour Rule. It showed to me that no matter how good we think we are, there is always room for improvement.  Anyone who has achieved greatness has worked at perfecting their aptitude, spending relentless hours harnessing their skills. I then thought, am I the best at what I do? No. I am good, but there is always rule for improvement. Instead of complaining about being appreciated, I decided to start working on applying this rule, and spending more time refining my proficiency.

What are your thoughts on the rule? Do you think this is something you can apply in your life and learn from?

Here is a short description explaining more in depth the 10,000 Hour Rule I found on Wikipedia.

“A common theme that appears throughout Outliersis the “10,000-Hour Rule”. Gladwell claims that greatness requires enormous time, using the source of The Beatles’ musical talents and Gates’ computer savvy as examples.^[3] The Beatles performed live in Hamburg, Germanyover 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964, amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time, therefore meeting the 10,000-Hour Rule. Gladwell asserts that all of the time The Beatles spent performing shaped their talent, “so by the time they returned to England from Hamburg, Germany, ‘they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them.’”^[3] Gates met the 10,000-Hour Rule when he gained access to a high school computer in 1968 at the age of 13, and spent 10,000 hours programming on it. In Outliers, Gladwell interviews Gates, who says that unique access to a computer at a time when they were not commonplace helped him succeed. Without that access, Gladwell states that Gates would still be “a highly intelligent, driven, charming person and a successful professional”, but that he might not be worth US$50 billion.^[3]Gladwell explains that reaching the 10,000-Hour Rule, which he considers the key to success in any field, is simply a matter of practicing a specific task that can be accomplished with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years. He also notes that he himself took exactly 10 years to meet the 10,000-Hour Rule”