The Subtle Art Of Reaching Your Potential

The mastery approach of practising 10,000 hours is overshadowed by the 80/20 rule, which states that one can be 80 percent proficient(good enough) at something in a fairly shorter time than it takes to attain perfection(100 percent).

Developing a portfolio of a good enough skill-stack is a better way than being a master at one particular skill and sacrificing everything else.

The gains are disproportionate, mainly going to the very top of the pyramid. Most of us with ‘mediocre’ talent could find it a challenge to be at the very top, even after practising the 10,000-hour rule. 

As Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert tells us: Instead of working towards the very top(which is a big task) it is fairly easy to be in the top 25 percent of a chosen field by honing one’s top three skills to good enough levels.

To become the very best and able to reach the top of the pyramid requires the Calculus Of Grit, which is embedded in the 10,000-hour rule of mastery. 

If one is on the right path, the modules start to appear easy, but if it feels increasingly stressful and difficult as the modules get upgraded, it may be the wrong path.

Master stuff that appears easy for you but impressive to others.

Skills, like the ability to do math, marketing, programming, or physics, are mainly extrinsic.

Strengths, like our being good at grasping information, or in influencing people, are mainly intrinsic.

Working on three to four extrinsic skills (to reach the top 25 per cent) is actually just working 10,000 hours towards the main (intrinsic)strength of yours, even if you don’t realize the same.

To be really good at something one has to let go of many other aspects, as the bandwidth on which our mind works is finite. If one is really good at something, it is often a great possibility that the person would also be bad at something else. One cannot be good at everything in the same proportion.

Pick a few of your skill sets and start to work on them, observing what strengths of yours start to emerge. 

To market yourself, you have to showcase your skills, as your strengths are intrinsic and cannot be put on the table.

Do lots of work showcasing your skill sets and let it be seen by others. Slowly a pattern starts to emerge, and they are able to see your strengths.