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I realize it is not what has been touted, but I always took the "10K hours" thing to mean, "it takes 10K hours to reach your potential". That is still a way too

I realize it is not what has been touted, but I always took the "10K hours" thing to mean, "it takes 10K hours to reach your potential". That is still a way too convenient round number, but good enough for a rough estimate. But it has a flip side: "after 10K hours, that's about as good as you're ever going to get". I've easily got 10K hours on the guitar, but I'm no Jimmy Page, nor will I ever be. 10K hours of running? 40 years, carry the one...yeah, probably. Look through my comments, see anything about the Olympics? A few wins at some regional-level races is all I'm ever going to get. On the other other hand, if you put the time in, you might not become Jimmy Page/Bobby Fischer/Usain Bolt, but I am convinced you'll get competent at whatever you pursue. No musical talent? Bah, sit down for a half hour a day of real practice for a month, tell me how little "talent" you have.

egypturnash 8y ago
10k hours of practice - including a lot of “directed” practice, where you have some advice on what to work on, and no small amount of thoughtful critique - will generally get you to “hireable in your craft”. There’s still a lot to learn. I passed that point in my art skills around 2000, and can crank out a much better drawing with a lot less thought than 2000 me could. 10k hours of fiddling around by yourself will get you somewhere, to be sure. (Quick math: 10k/5 = 2000, divide that by 365 and you have about five and a half years of spending 5h on your craft every day. Which sounds a lot like “majoring in your craft at a four-year college, then learning how it really works on your first job” to me.)