10,000 hours

10,000 hours

This is a number that many experts use when referring to mastery. Research says it is not only the hours that are dedicated to the skill, but also the elapsed time in-between that makes a difference. In the book, "Genius within Us" author David Shenk says that after studying the process of mastery, ten years and ten thousand hours- no matter what the domain- seems to be the start of mastery. This equates to three hours a day. Just the other day a friend of mine who is a student was referring to a teacher at Empowered Yoga. He was commenting on her development as a teacher. I told him it is a simple equation, passion + practice = mastery. I told him that if the person is passionate and practice is steady then mastery can be achieved. The part of David Shenk's research that I find so important is the importance of lapsed time between dedicated study time. It is the digestion time that allows for the skill to soak into our being. I always tell our students in teacher training that the only thing they are lacking is teaching hours. Is there a skill you would like to master? If so are you putting in your time towards mastery?