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Deliberate Practice

Your Road to Greatness

“Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.” — George Santayana

Of the 365 days in the year, which is the one when you least would want to arrive in an emergency room?

Believe it or not, there is such a date. At least some people think so.

The date is July 1, and it’s the first day on the job for interns. That makes it the day when the least experienced medical people begin plying their trade.

They have just begun to assemble the 10,000 hours considered necessary for mastery of any skill.

By contrast, if you wanted to see the result of 10,000 hours on display, all you needed to do was watch last night’s NBA All-Star Game. The shooting, passing and dribbling are all products of countless hours spent on the playground.

Whether you want to be a doctor or a pro basketball player, or anything in between, today is a great day to ask yourself two questions:

What do you want to be great at?

How much time have you put into it?

As outlined in Geoff Colvin’s book, “Talent Is Overrated,” some experts began accumulating the necessary hours long before they arrived in their field of expertise. Financial wizard Warren Buffett, for instance, ran paper routes, bought stock at age 11, and at 15 joined with a friend to buy a pinball machine and install it in  barbershop.

Chances are that you have much more experience than you think you have. The issue now is recognizing your area of interest and beginning to pull together your expertise in it.

An author I know, Karen Abarbanel, has published a book called “Birthing the Elephant,” a woman’s guide to launching a business. Karen has spent 10,000 hours on the craft of writing, and now is putting another 10,000 into promoting the book!

That’s what it takes.

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