In his book Outliers author Malcolm Gladwell details several examples of why the achievements of some people go way beyond normal. While I found the entire read quite interesting there were two things that really struck me:
- The 10,00 Hour Rule: After several studies of people who had risen to the top of their profession whether it be music, art, athletics or business, it was concluded that ten thousand hours of "practice" is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world class expert in anything.
- Work Ethic: In observing Chinese rice farmers who often worked over 3,000 hours per year they overheard several things the farmers would say to one another, my favorite is "No one who can rise before dawn 360 days a year fails to make his family rich"
I often hear comments about highly successful salespeople (from those less successful) that:
- They get all the breaks.
- They don't work as hard as I do.
- They don't have to do all the cold calling I do.
- Everything comes easy for them.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My observations of the top salespeople I work with is that they have probably got at least 10,000 hours invested into their development and they start their day well before dawn. They are driven with a commitment to getting better and being the best. Too many salespeople start their days at 9:00 AM, too late. What if you simply began to work harder? How long will it take you to get to 10,000 hours at your current pace?
Of course you must "practice" the right things but if you were practicing 20 hours more each week how long before you start making it look easy?
