One day Picasso was approached by a woman in a marketplace. “ Wow, is that really you, Picasso? “ she exclaimed as she pulled out a napkin from her pocket. “Would you be able to draw me something?”
“Of course,” Picasso responded. About 30 seconds later he handed the lady back the napkin.
She looked at it with amazement and said, “ Thank you so much – this is incredible!” and began to walk away.
Picasso turned to her and said, “Oh my lady – that will be 1 million dollars.”
“A million dollars!?” she exclaimed, “but this only took you 30 seconds!”
He replied, “ Ahh my lady, but you don’t understand. It took me 30 years to be able to do that in 30 seconds!”
You cannot expect instant results from hard work. It takes CONSISTENT patience and persistence to develop great habits and skills. It takes about 20,000 shots with correct form to make this correct technique a habit. Kobe Bryant didn’t just spend 1 summer in the gym and instantly become an All-Star. It was hours and hours of consistent summers in the gym working smartly on his game. The combination of a perfectionist and patience can be deadly.
The 10,000 Hour or 10 Year Rule
Although most people think that world class performance requires huge talent, research shows that 10 years (or 10,000 hours) of practice can make anyone a top performer in pretty much any field, from sports to music to business.
The talent myth is very easy to believe when you look at people at their peak. People forget that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, or that Abraham Lincoln lost numerous elections, or that Barbara Blackburn failed typing in high school (she went on to become the world’s fastest typist, with a peak of 212 wpm). Continue to read here.
Here are some links to other sites that cover the 10,000 hour rule. Anyone who has any interest in developing talent should check these out!
http://hunternuttall.com/blog/2009/04/how-to-become-an-expert/
http://hockeycoachingabcs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=539
