The first time I heard the phrase “get in your 10,000 hours” was in an interview I did with John Carlton several years ago. He was talking about copywriting and he said if you want to be world-class-good at something, log your ten thousand hours of practice.
Malcolm Gladwell made this the theme of his latest “Outliers.” (Laura loved that book, Howie Jacobson said I’d get at least 3 newsletters worth of inspiration from it. Mike Hettwer actually mailed me a copy. It’s on my read-next list.)
Today I’ve got 2 thoughts to share about getting in your 10,000 hours:
1) It’s hard for most people to appreciate the rich rewards of being truly world class. The doors it will open for you, the opportunities it will bring month after month, year after year. Especially if you build a public platform around your skill, you’re automatically at the front of every line you stand in – if you even have to stand in line at all.
When you’re world class you can achieve things in your sleep that most people can’t pull off with every ounce of energy and concentration they possess.
2) You don’t have to be even close to certified world-class to enjoy substantial advantages. I’ve always liked the phrase “in the land of the blind, the man with one eye gets to be king.” In most industries and most markets, you don’t need world class marketing chops to win big-time. 1,000 hours of practice will equip you to beat almost everybody in almost any game.
Remember, to succeed online you only need to be good at TWO things (Read http://www.perrymarshall.com/good-at-two-things) – ONE kind of traffic and ONE kind of sales conversion.
If you spend 1,000 hours learning how to generate ONE kind of traffic and 1,000 hours mastering ONE way of converting prospects to buyers, you will be darn close to the best guy or gal you can find in your niche at those two things.
So how do you log your 1,000 hours?
You MUST MUST MUST shove minutia out of the way and FOCUS for 1 hour a day.
1 hour a day for 3 years is 1000 hours.
2 hours a day for 18 months is 1000 hours.
3 hours a day for a year is 1000 hours.
Even if you take one day off per week, which you should.
You will never miss the minutia you shove out of the way. It’ll probably be time you spend responding to emails that will never result in any sales or time you waste twittering or facebooking or whatever.
There are many trivial tasks you can give to a $10 per hour assistant. Things other people can do for you like laundry or housecleaning. Short-term chores that you’ll never miss once they’re gone.
What if you gave those jobs to somebody else and blocked out ONE HOUR to hone your highest skill to perfection?
I’ve basically spent at least an hour writing every day for the last 10 years. It’s my best skill and it’s paid off. I’ve wasted a lot of time doing a lot of stupid things during the last decade but it’s the time I spent writing that made a difference.
The other thing I’ve been doing for the last 10 years – yes, probably about an hour every day, on average – is becoming a certified Marketing Maniac. Having my radar cranked up for every possible angle on human psychology and what makes people respond; what makes people change their minds, change their beliefs, part with their money.
Collecting every strange story and case study about websites and infomercials and direct mail campaigns and sales meetings I can find and filing them away in my brain.
I’ve wasted a lot of time doing stupid stuff but time spent becoming a Marketing Maniac has paid off handsomely.
There’s one point I must NOT leave out:
Just “doing ten thousand hours of whatever” all by itself is not enough and will get you nowhere.
There are all kinds of accountants and engineers and secretaries who have done ten thousand hours of accounting or engineering or secretarial work, who are not even close to world class at anything.
Why? Because they’ve just been punching the clock. Sleepwalking through their life. They haven’t been sharpening their saw. They’ve only been going through the motions.
That’ll earn you a paycheck but little else. No, I’m talking about conscious, deliberate effort to get BETTER. To challenge yourself; to seek out new discoveries, to try things you haven’t tried before; to put yourself under the tutelage of an exacting and demanding mentor; to press the edges of your comfort zone and expand your ability.
THAT is what you spend your 1,000 or 10,000 hours doing. Acting instead of reacting. Pressing forward instead of floating downstream.
Before I go, there is one last advantage that I’d like you to consider:
Consider the PEER GROUP you will belong to when you achieve regional, national or world-class chops in ANY endeavor.
You will command instant respect from other world-class people, regardless of profession. The conversations you have with them will be stimulating, invigorating, fascinating. People who embrace excellence. People who, you will find, are usually generous and creative and adventurous. They introduce you, in turn, to other creative, adventurous people.
You will also find that contrary to stereotype, folks who hang out at country clubs are neither stuffy nor dull nor boring. They’re usually the most happenin’, engaging people in town.
A couple weeks ago I spied a Google ad by a world-class artist who is revered in certain circles. Someone I highly respect. (I bet he got his 10,000 hours in by age 19.) I saw a couple of mistakes he was making and dropped him an email offering to help out. He Googled me and when he saw I was also world class at what I do, he replied back and we had a great conversation.
I helped him out, I had a cool opportunity to converse with someone whose work I admire, and perhaps we’ll have more exchanges in the future.
I bet you can think of people you’d like to meet. If you’re as good at what you do as they are at what they do, it won’t be hard to make that happen.
The pursuit of excellence is truly worthy of your time. I challenge you to name anything that’s more worthy of 1 hour of your work day than that.
Whatever you do – whatever minutia you have to shove out of the way – commit right now to your 1,000 hours of mastery. It’s the first step to getting your 10,000 hours. That hour-a-day is not optional if you want to have a great life.
I promise, it will take you to places you’ve hardly dreamed of.
Perry Marshall
“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.” -Solomon, 1000 BC
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
21 Comments on “The one thing you must do at any cost”
raza-
thanks for your reply. it means a lot to me.
At the end of the day its all about positive cashflow, ROI and average lifetime customer value. Being “right” or “wrong” isn’t important as those three things. I’d much rather get my ego hurt a bit, learn, and grow from it than thinking “I’m right”.
I’ve had my balls smashed by doors, hammers, anvils. And boy it sure does hurt. Learning can be painful. It can also be fun and really inspiring.
Now, Perry and Bob both talk about the quality of the 10k. I mean, there is 10k (swag) and then there is 10k (kush). For example, learning from a master like Perry will make you aware of things that will create a 10k learning experience as opposed to punching a clock for 10k billable hours.
If you want to test your ideas, put your balls on the chopping block and see what you really got, consider Perry renasssince club. There is a forum with members that got CIA sniper ability to shot any idea you got. They’ll help you find holes in your armour. I’m mean, Perry’s forum members are so good at sniffing little stuff out you’d think they’re k-1 drug dogs at the usa/mexico border.
btw…none of my hours were in grammar or spelling, so please accept my apoligies.
Adam,
1). Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. It shows repect and says a lot about the kind of person you are. I appreciate it.
2). After reading your latest comment, you articulated what I was trying to say much better than I did. Mastery does take more than 100 hours. In fact, I was thinking about Seth Godin’s post when I wrote my original comment (which I later found out you quoted in your original comment) Paying your dues and cutting your teeth is an unavoidable cost of become world class. It means falling on your face a few times, being willing to accept constructive criticism (something I know a little bit about), and being willing to put in the hard work and dedication that others aren’t willing to invest.
3). I’ve learned over time that you can sometimes tell people who have put in their 10,000 hours (or even their 1,000 hours) just by the way they talk. When I interact with someone like that, I do my best to shut up and listen.
Best of success in everything you do!
Raza
Wow! What a great article! Wasting time on non-productive things is a very bad habit of mine. This is the kick in the butt I needed to focus, focus, focus. Thanks so much.
Raza-
Again, I politely disagree. Discipline is vital. I agree with that. However, at least in my opinion, the post is about mastery. About excellence. About being in the 1% club. 10K gives you masterly. 1,000 hours makes you above average. And in most industries an incremental difference, however small, is enough to make you top dog. Also, when you write “Adam, don’t take it so literally man!”, I gotta say “Hold on buck-a-roo” Why? Because your claim, as you wrote, “you can shrink the 10,000 hours to 100 hours” is utter bull. It seems really scammie. The reason? Because you make a specific claim that you can reduce 10k hours to 100 hours. You were specific. So when you say, “Don’t take it literally”, then my brain is saying to itself, “Why brother writing a specific claim when you don’t want it be taken seriously”. It makes you out to be a hypocrite. Now, I think what you were trying to convey was the idea that if you pick a niche in which there aren’t many players, the time necessary to be incrementally better than the competition doesn’t require a level mastery. Only a level of knowledge that is skin deep at best, which can take about 100 hours. And to that, I AGREE!!!!! So the takeway here: (1) when making specific claims, be prepared to back it up, (2) really try to figure out what you’re tying to say, and reread what you wrote to see if you accomplished that.
Adam, don’t take it so literally man! Still, doing something consistently, for an hour, for 100 days is no joke. You may not become a master, but in 100 hours you’ll develop a ton of discipline. And THAT is what Perry’s post is about.
Do
Aam,
Hi Perry,
Since I’m still not sure of what I’m doing yet, I spent at least 4 hours a day working on articles to link to my Ecrater website, which is currently a template site to generate traffic. Next, I will put my blog together and link it to my Ecrater Website and see what happens. This article lets me know that at least I’m on the right track. Thank you! :)
Raza. I don’t think it’s possible to cut 10k hours to 100. That’s bull. Most people will play around 100 hours. At a 1000 a lot drop out. It’s about being better than the competition. 100 hours doesn’t cut it
Like you said in a previous post, if you sell soap, don’t be the online soap king. Be the online lemon-scented soap king. By focusing on a narrow niche, you can shrink the 10,000 hours to 100 hours.
Exercise, weightloss, and fitness are extremely competitive online niches. But I decided to focus on “isometric exercises” and promote affiliate products related to that. It’s a relatively small market, but it appeals to a very passionate audience (martial artists who want to increase strenght without losing the flexibility you lose when lifting weights) It’s not a huge niche, but if I work hard enough at it, I’m sure I’ll be successful.
Another way to cut down your 10,000 hours is to mix things up. For example, Tim Ferriss in the 4 Hour Work Week talks about creating an info product called “Yoga for Rock Climbers” Yoga is extremely popular, and rock climging is extremely popular. To be world class in either of those categories would take more like 100,000 hours. So why not create a new category and become an expert in that?
From running my own software development busines, I’ve learned these things the hard way. There’s no shortcuts in life, but by working hard and carving out your own niche, you can become an “expert” even faster.
For a great compliment to this article, read Seth Godin’s blog post. Just Google “Malcolm Gladwell 10,000 hours Seth Godin” and you should find it. It’s equally as insightful as Perry’s article.
Hi Perry,
You are so right. The amount of time I have wasted chasing loose and dead ends, it horrifies me.
At your recommendation I bought Terry Dean and Glenn Livingston’s course (just yesterday) and am already getting a big mind shift towards IM. I have been wasting so much time.
It really is time to take those rose tinted glasses off. Or rather, it’s time to stop having wool pulled over one’s eyes.
It’s not going to happen over night.
So yes, work hard to be good at what you want to do; it’s the only way to be world class and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.
Thank you and I look forward to checking out your membership site.
I totally agree. Been in software development and business process improvement since the late 70’s and usually put in 2500-4000 hours per year. The knowledge exponentially grows and people don’t realize this.
With wisdom and knowledge I can deliver in a day soutions blueprints that take some companies with large teams a year or more to figure out if they get lucky. So they get No immediate ROI and usually a substandard blueprint copying similiar industry failures.
Once you have seen 400 variations on corproate problems by working in their environments you can quickly go through a new environment and spot immediate ROI and improvements. You adapt the best of breed from the solutions and many times these solitions come from different industries.
Our world is backwards from the stand point they want to pay by the hour instead of result. I would prefer to know it costs me X to get Y delivered. I don’t care if it takes 1 hour or 100 hours i want the result not the body. If i am billing by the hour like the CONsulting companies then i am going to send in the worst talent to generate long term revenue and the customer isn’t getting any real value.
In all aspects of business and government we need to move to pay for performance/results and this would force the slackers to kick it up a notch. It would eliminate the people that don’t care and don’t make an effort because they know they don’t have to.
We need people that can watch 60 minutes in 30 minutes or less not 600 hours.
The 1,000 hour rule is an approximation, for someone like me it takes a lot longer (used to be a programmer)
But now at the end of countless thousands of hours, I have become really interested in what my clients want qnd Why they buy my products.
I also consider it a wonder that every ‘click’ on my ads is really a human being and that they actually read what I write.
I had my first ‘real’ revelation about 6 months ago, after reading an explanation about ‘reason-why copy’. I changed on of my sales letters and added an explanation regarding why I was offering my product at such a huge discount (because I wanted more prospects to buy so they’ll be impressed with it and buy my high-end products). And conversion rate went up about 400%.
I guess I’m still very green, but I’m getting there. Only 9,000 hours to go :)
Perry,
One thing that always endears me to certain writers is when they articulate something in the whole that I have only been able to articulate piecemeal. I hope this makes sense to you; but if it doesn’t, that’s okay. This article will be archived on my computer indefinitely. Great work Perry!
Wow thank you for that inspiring article! I can’t say how much I needed that kick in the pants! I am an artist who spends too much time on the computer. I have spent my life learning to paint and I can be a lot better. I am going to commit to spending one to three hours per day doing my art again.
Perry,
This hit home with me. Yesterday, I decided to go through a training session with complete focus; before I knew it I had not only the computer that I was using to train on; but my laptop up and running another tasks. 10 windows open on my main computer; 5 on my laptop! OMG, that is NOT focused training at all. I was trying to multi-task and doing a terrible job at it.
So today I am determined to finish the training without interruption.
Thanks for the kick-in-the-butt post.
Here is a question for you perry ..
With regards to traffic and conversion.. what is the hierarchy / priority level?
For me it’s been easy to identify Adwords as the traffic strategy to become world class at..
But what about conversion?
I know you are a big fan of the autoresponder series and using that as the leverage point in your business.
What are some other examples of conversion models that you feel stand the best chance of helping one succeed?
I know that copywriting is a critical skill as it quite essential to autoresponders and also sales letters….
Is copywriting then THE vital skill which then leverages all others such as the sales letters and autoreponders?
If then what is the 80/20 with respect to copywriting. For most, the need to make these work quickly is critical while working toward that 1,000 hour mark.
btw: I have to say that i have removed myself from a bunch of lists and you are the one that gets an open door invite to mail mailbox everyday. keep up the emails and thanks for the great info
Chris,
Copywriting is always at some level the key. It comes into play regardless of whether you’re scripting videos, making radio commercials or crafting banner ads. Each of these media has its own nuances and focusing on one or two is much better than trying to do 12 things at once.
Any of the following things – or combinations of the following – could convert a visitor to a buyer:
-sales letter
-sequence of sales letters
-video
-teleseminar
-webinar
-testimonials
-send them to a distributor, agent or rep
-sending people to an affiliate site that can convert them
-talk to them on the phone
-live chat
-visit them in person
-bring them to a seminar
-30 day free trial
-sales pitch via email
-earn their trust over such a long period of time (ie with autoresponders, or credibility through external endorsements) that eventually they buy, even though the copy isn’t all that great
-hire someone to deliver the pitch for you
-surveys to find out why they’re not buying
If you are selling something that is information intensive – any kind of info product, knowledge-related service business or consulting business – teleseminars are very powerful. Michael Cage has a great teleseminar formula at http://www.teleseminarpower.com/
Perry
Perry
This was inspirational. There are a number of things you are world class at and the first is offering your email base fantastic content at sometimes zero cost. Everyone else charges whatever they can get every time they get a good idea, but you are so far ahead of the game you know the most important thing is to get your email opened and read. Once that happens and you deliver value, readers become customers and the money makes its way eventually. I need focus. I have wasted too many of my 10,000 hours investment in my online career chasing rainbows and being too involved in the minutae. Thanks for the wake up call Buddy. God bless from Scotland. Kenny
Hello Planet Perry:
Another killer post. Damn, your bar for excellence is going higher and higher every post!
This reply is to support your idea that world class people get to hang out with other world class people because they are so great at what they do.
In the music/concert world, Bob Lefsetz is Perry Marshall. The guy writes almost daily for 20 years.
Anyway, here’s an article he wrote in which he chilled with both Seth Godin and Gladwell, and the got a private showing of SNL, all in the same f***ing weekend. WOW! They also expand on the 10k concept: Enjoy: Adam
————–
Spent the day in Rockefeller Center.
First we met Seth Godin at Maison du Chocolat (http://www.lamaisonduchocolat.com/en/). It was fascinating to hear him riff on music education, Felice’s world. He lamented teachers married to excellence, performance of material that most people were not enamored of. He boiled it down to a sense of mastery. That by learning how to play an instrument, a child experienced a sense of accomplishment. That’s the message of music education, not exposing people to the classics or some extrapolation about IQ improvement. That’s Seth’s gift, the ability to execute an insightful surgical strike, right to the heart of the matter.
Are people ready for it?
Excellent question. Seth told the story of Dean Kamen, creator of the Segway, amongst other inventions. Dean started a robot competition, because he wanted to teach kids how to invent. At first he tried to work through the established channels, then he just did it himself. The way bands do it today.
Equally fascinating was hearing Seth’s history. He’s invested his 10,000 hours in the marketing world. And that brings me back to Gladwell. I asked Gladwell… What if you put in 10,000 hours in one area, were you fucked if you wanted to switch directions? Malcolm said you got credit. And Seth said that winning in one area taught you how to be confident and win in another. But what fascinated me most was that Malcolm said those who put in 10,000 hours were self-selecting.
In other words, are you lazy or dedicated? If you expect it to come to you on a silver platter, good luck. If, like John Mayer, you’re willing to take a year off from school to practice the guitar (and have parents, in the case of Mayer, both teachers, who approve of this!), you’re on the road. If you’re styling yourself in front of mirrors and entering singing competitions… You show hunger, you show desire, but you don’t evidence any work.
There are no easy solutions. Seth was formulating marketing ideas before he was a teenager. He only truly reaped the rewards of his investment in the past ten years. The same way Gladwell was a reporter for “The Washington Post” for a decade before he went to “The New Yorker” and wrote “The Tipping Point”. You’ve got to pay your dues. And you’ve got to be willing to break rules, think outside of the box. As Gladwell said last night, those in power, the Goliaths, have an investment in keeping you down. If you want to triumph, you’ve got to work hard and do it a different way, which may be even more valid.
High on the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had, we bid adieu to Seth and flew upstairs to the legendary Studio 8-H. Otherwise known as the home of “Saturday Night Live”.
Daniel Glass had received a phone call only weeks before. Could his band Phoenix appear on April 4th?
A Parisian band, whose lead guitarist is the father of Sofia Coppola’s child, Phoenix started off behind Air, had a major label deal, but didn’t break through. They’re starting over again with Daniel.
Who heard their music and flipped, and when a song leaked to the Net, didn’t freak out, but went for the ride. To the point where KCRW was airing their tracks and SNL called.
But there was one big problem. VISAS! The usual suspects said it couldn’t happen. But it’s all in who you know. Eventually, Daniel got hooked up with an attorney in D.C., who guaranteed the band could make it for the gig. And delivered. Funny how in the wake of 9/11 we’re so afraid of the wrong people getting in, that almost no one can get in.
The band’s dressing room was next to that of the host, Seth Rogen. Although we rubbed shoulders, I didn’t bother to introduce myself, he doesn’t know me. And he seemed so serious! Dressed in a suit.
But when he came out to do promos with Fred Armisen and the band he was wearing his jeans and tennis shoes… It was amazing. First, he’s now skinny. Second, he’s got that chortling laugh. Third, he turned it on for the camera. They’re b.s.’ing, and then a take begins. He adds the comic sauce… He’s not just reading the lines, he’s making them come alive!
The band ran through their two numbers on the famous Grand Central set. With the list of train stops on the way to New Haven in the background. This was the one photo I needed. I’ve seen that listing of “Fairfield” for decades and thought of home.
And there’s a vibe, and it’s fun. You realize if kids could come, they’d be inspired. To be not only performers, but cameramen, sound people… Imagine spending your whole life putting on a show!
And on the walls are signed photos from every host. Some living, some dead. When I saw Madeline Kahn’s picture, I gulped. The show lives on, long after the people who made it.
And leaning on a large piece of furniture, I noticed the sign saying not to spill anything, for it was the desk for “Weekend Update”. I lifted the cover, and there it was!
It’s not quite like it used to be. Now everybody has access to the public, via YouTube. But in the seventies, it was a ritual. You got home early on Saturday night to watch. Not only Aykroyd and Belushi, but the bands.
Phoenix gave it their all. You knew it would come alive with an audience. That’s where music truly lives. At the hall. Maybe it’s less about P2P theft and more about getting back to our roots. Music is something that penetrates you, that you feel. It’s a communal ritual. Sometimes just between you and the artist, but live you can see them, you can look into their eyes, that bond in your bedroom suddenly comes to life.
Cool day.
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
This is excellent Perry. The one big idea I take away is daily training leads to virtuosity and measurable results. This is a big message for the business world.
Perry:
I want to thank you for writing such a compelling article. There are so many terrific insights in your piece that I do not know where to begin.
Shoving the minutia out of the way and devoting at least one hour of “interrupted” time to the most important element of your business is absolutely critical. Minutia is a time killer and a dream stealer that I battle with constantly. A classic example of this is Twitter.
And I love your advice to “challenge yourself, seek out new discoveries . . . . and push the edges of your comfort zone.” The only way we can grow and move in the direction of “World Class” is to take that first step into the unknown. But unfortunately, I believe that is what is holding most people back. And I speak from experience, for taking that first step was a challenge I dealt with for much too long.
Your article is going directly into my “Weekly Read” file. It is a piece that I will read every week for a very long time.
Thanks again, Perry.
Perry,
That really hit home. I think back at the hard work i’ve done and realize without testing myself, I would have never gotten where I am now.
I would have most likely failed. But once you find success, don’t get complacent. Continue pushing yourself to get better.
Best article yet Perry…
Peter