Time is not your friend. However, time is also not your enemy. Time is one thing and one thing only.
Time. Is. Your. Competition.
Whether you are an athlete, coach, entrepreneur, artist, parent, or simply just aspiring for personal growth, time is the #1 factor you must win against.
It’s no secret that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to be an expert at anything. Research from Anders Ericsson that Malcolm Gladwell popularized made this a pop culture rule of thumb. However, this “10,000 hours” rule of thumb is just that, a rule of thumb.
10,000 hours is not a scientific rule and it’s not even a de facto standard. Unquestionably, the idea that you need 10,000 hours to achieve excellence is simply a reminder that it’s a long difficult road to become the best version of yourself. Moreover, it’s an even longer road to become the best.
10,000 hours may be just the tip of the iceberg, or it may be going over and beyond.
Competing Against Time
If the best people are all investing 20,000 hours, then it will take at least 20,000 hours to be the best. If all the best people are only putting in 1,000 hours, then it may only take 1,000 hours to be the best. Simply stated, when all other things are equal, the people who invest more time into something are generally always going to be better than everyone else, and “more” is infinite.
Therefore, whether your journey for personal growth is to be the best version of yourself or it’s to be the best, your #1 competitor is time.
- What you use your time on.
- How focused you are during that time.
- How long you can remain focused without decreasing the quality of the quantity of time without quitting.
Only by mastering these three aspects of time can you give yourself the best chance of winning your competition against time. Unquestionably, until you win this competition no other competition matters.