It’s a new year and you’ve been reviewing what you’re doing with your life, your business. Sometimes these reviews reveal you’re on track, sometimes not. And sometimes they reveal what appears to be a glaring hole in what you are capable of. Yes, I’m talking about when you assume the qualifications you have just don’t cut it for what you want to achieve going forward. In some cases it’s true, depending on your business, that perhaps you do require a certain qualification. But here is what I see quite a lot: the qualifications are enough. In fact I’ve written about this before here, and what is actually lacking is belief in yourself and your abilities. There is not enough credibility given (by you) to the hours and hours of doing what you do. As Malcolm Gladwell says in Outliers: The Story of Success:
“The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”
He also goes on to say:
“And what’s ten years? Well, it’s roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice. Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.”
Maybe you shortcut that 10 years, who knows? But what I do know is that the 10,000 hours of “practice” on top of qualifications (if they are required) is more than enough. What is lacking is your belief in those 10,000 hours. Think back and ask yourself how long have you been honing your skills or craft. You might surprise yourself and find that it has been quite some time. Do you believe in that time; that hard work you’ve put it to be at the skill level you’re at now? It’s easy to scoff and say, “oh yeah that’s nothing major, but look at what so and so has done”. And maybe they have done something significant. But look at what you’ve achieved, what you’ve accomplished, what you’ve learnt, the knowledge you now have to perform your craft (probably blindfolded). No one’s belief in you will be more potent to your success than your own. Your belief will drive your acceptance that what you’ve done, what you’ve achieved so far is beyond awesome, and you can achieve your future goals. Every little achievement, no matter how minor, you’ve had in the past adds together. Combine them all to arrive at where you are right now. If you just look at where you are now, it’s very easy to disregard the journey and all the parts that have combined to allow you to arrive at this destination. As the saying goes… ‘The sum of the parts is greater than the whole’. Look back and document your achievements from the past. How awesome are they? Really take stock of them. If you were reading this about someone else how would you feel, would you be in awe? Most probably. Well guess what? That’s you! You are awesome. You’ve done your 10,000 hours. Believe in that and go rock your world with what you already know. We’re waiting…
