3333 Hours To Takeoff

I am mid-way through reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. It seems the main factor separating someone who is average and someone who is über-successful is 10,000 hours of practice (plus a bunch of other factors, among them being in the right place and the right time to use your exceptional skills to great advantage).

Applying this equation to my art practice, let’s say that over the past nine years (2002 being the year I started to seriously pursue professional artist status) I’ve clocked about two thirds of my 10,000 hours. In order for me to reach this magic number I need to put in another 3333 hours. At my current rate of production (an average of 15 hours a week) it will take me 4 years and 4 months to reach the rank of outlier (assuming I can be in the right place at the right time when the planets align).

Or…

I could quit my job, ignore several facets of my life, work a 40 hour studio week and push to be an outlier in only 1 yr and 7 months.

Hmmm. So tempting.

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