To continue on from my previous post, Gladwell goes onto say that the most successful business people, such as Bill Gates, musicians like the Beatles, and athletes such as star Canadian hockey players, practice an average of 10,000 hours before their skill is perfected.
My goal is doable after all and so much fun! Me jumping Jaliska.
10,000 hours. That’s more than 415 days, almost 60 weeks. Imagine being on horse back for 15 weeks… no breaks, no sleep. When I read that I thought, “OMG! I am doomed! I just don’t have that kind of time. I AM TOO OLD!”
That is when two things hit me:
1) 10,000 hours is to achieve world class status, I just want to compete and finish a Grand Prix (and a mini grand prix would suffice!) and;
2) what about all the hours I rode as a kid, surely they factor in too? Right?
So, if my goal is 7,000 hours and I achieved roughly 5,000 in my youth, then I only need another 2,000 hours to be able to compete (at a beginner level) in a (mini) Grand Prix. This equates to roughly six years of training at six hours a week. Now that is doable. I am up for the challenge.
By changing the way I think about my objective, and the way I measure my progress toward its achievement, the less overwhelming it becomes. 10,000 hours of riding is a goal (and goals are important to set) that could easily defeat me. By breaking it down into something measurable and achievable, like riding for 6 hours a week, I will continue to plod forward and count each week as a success!
