Why Wanting To Throw Up Will Make You Successful (Plus 10,000 Hours)

You know, I have several blogs, but I am finding this is my favorite one. It's probably because it is about a whole lot of nothing, and I can say whatever the blankety-blank I want to say. It's a beautiful thing, for me anyway.

So I was roaming around on Twitter and found this audio clip of John Rzeznik during an interview where he was talking about putting in his 10,000 hours. (In order to be truly good at something, an expert, you must put in at least 10,000 hours working and practicing at it.) That got me to thinking about the concept in general. Then I tweeted about it. Then I decided to crank out a whole post about it. My brain works that way - I sort of fixate on one thing at a time.

It made me sort of wonder about the difference between innate talent (the kind you are born with) versus the kind that you develop (10,000 hours of work). Wasn't it Michael Jordan who didn't make the high school basketball team, but then practiced really hard to make it the next time? Most people comment on his talent, and he definitely has some. But maybe the hard work weighs more on his success than the seed of talent he was born with.

Having a background in psychology, I am fascinated by these questions. Just think, you and I could be experts in ANYTHING! Now, I know there are some practical realities here. A person who is paralyzed from the waist down cannot become an Olympic track runner. That's obvious.

But I think people often sell themselves short. I picked this up in some reading a while back, don't remember where, but basically it states: If your dreams don't make you want to throw up, then they are not big enough.

I personally like that philosophy. It keeps you on your toes and doesn't let you waste your life. You will never achieve anything that is not first a goal. Wouldn't it really piss you off to be a car mechanic all your life and then find out that you could have been a race car driver?

So set your dreams high (and start your 10,000 hours today)!