Have you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers? If you have, then you’ve heard of the 10000 hour rule. That it takes 10000 hours to be a winner at something. In this post, I consider if 10000 hours will actually make me better...

Hello, reader. I hope you have something lovely for your weekend.

I’m here with some Friday fun. Because I love to learn new things, research, and sometimes disappear down the proverbial internet black hole–and I love to have a little fun with it all–I decided to take some Fridays for sharing sometimes useful and always fun things to help you smile and reflect.

The 10000 hour rule?

If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, then you’ve heard of the 10000 hour rule: it takes 10000 hours to be a winner at something. To be really good. He says something like “achievement is talent plus preparation.” I think there’s some disagreement about the 10000 hour thing, but for today, I’m going with it.

Have I done any single thing for 10000 hours? Would it be a waste of time to figure that out? Nah. It’d be fun. Here goes.

10000 hours is about 5 years of full-time work. Or let’s look at it this way. It’s doing one single thing 5 hours per week for 40 years. And since I’m, uh, way beyond 40 years old, I’m pretty sure I have racked up enough hours to achieve success in several areas of my life. The talent part of it is debatable.

What I’m Winning At

Sleep.

I’m a back-sleeper, so I’m a winner here. People say it’s healthier to sleep on your back. (And I always listen to “people,” don’t you?) One bonus: I don’t have pillow-wrinkles on my face in the morning.

Laundry.

Years and years of practice here. Our clothes get clean every week. But it’s crazy. I’m not sure I’ve not mastered this. What’s the best laundry detergent? Way too many choices. Why can’t I figure out how to wash one big rug in my front loader? It never works. And I don’t think I like the front loader. Do you?

Scrambling eggs.

I scramble lots of eggs. Breakfast. Supper. I think this is a winner. But wait? Should I add water? Milk? Stir in the pan or whisk in a bowl before dumping in the pan? Butter? Non-stick skillet? Help! Does it even matter?!

Back to the sleep thing.

I’m not sure I’m really getting good deep REM and non-REM sleep. I used my Fitbit to analyze this. I was addicted for a bit, checking it every morning. If it didn’t register “good,” I suddenly felt tired even if I slept eight hours.

Writing.

I’ve been writing a long, long time. Thousands and thousands of hours. I think this is a winner, maybe, until I re-read the scene I wrote yesterday. It’s not good.

Eating sweets.

Yes. This is a winner. I’ve perfected it and moved beyond the sticky candy necklaces of childhood to little lovely squares of dark chocolate. And sometimes a bag of red licorice.

Back to the sleep thing again.

I can’t seem to move past this one 😉 I wake up in the middle of the night and think too much about No. 5. Sometimes I can’t get back to sleep. I may be getting negative hours before long.

Faith.

Okay. Here, I’m a winner. Whew. I don’t mean I’m a “good” Christian, not at all. I’m a winner not because of any natural ability. (My natural tendency is pretty much opposed to anything good and right and faithful. Nod to Adam, Eve, Satan.) I’m a winner not because of 10,000 plus hours practicing my faith, though that’s a blessing. I’m a winner simply because Christ did it all.

What I’d Actually Like to Be Good At

Here’s the beautiful end of the story in Luke about the sinful woman.

And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”  And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Luke 7:48-50 ESV

I’ll continue to sleep and do laundry and scramble eggs and eat chocolate and write and pray and sleep some more. He cares. Not about how well I do these things. No. He loves to see me do these things to His glory.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

That’s what I’d like to be good at.

I participate in an online writing community called Five-Minute Friday. Each week they encourage writing with a one-word prompt. The word for this one was talent. Looking for more devotions and reflections on faith? Click here.

Photo by Modernista Magazine on Unsplash

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