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Practice isn't the thing you do once you are good.  It's the thing you do that makes you good.
-Malcolm Gladwell

I'm about a third of the way through Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell.  I've already learned something about the role of practice/discipline in becoming truly great.

Gladwell begins one particular chapter by discussing a 1990's study of Berlin's elite Academy of Music.  Students were divided into three groups: the "stars," those who were only "good," and those who were unlikely to play professionally.

They discovered one factor that separated these three groups--practice.  The best players had practiced relentlessly, putting in around 10,000 hours (starting from childhood) before they enrolled in the academy.  Similar patterns were discovered among pianist.  This was surprising--the researchers didn't find any exceptions (no "naturals" who effortlessly achieved excellence; no "grinds" who put the time in but didn't make elite status).

The authors looks at other examples of this 10,000 hour rule:

*Mozart started writing music at age six, but his greatest work came after he had been composing for twenty years.

*It takes about ten years to become a chess grandmaster.

*Bill Gates was introduced to computers as a teenager (an era when access to computers was extremely rare).  He spent thousands of hours on computer programming before graduating high school.

*The Beatles performed for hours on end in a German club during the early 60's (sometimes playing eight hours straight, seven days a week).  They were just a mediocre high school band before spending all this time on stage.

The list goes on.

This 10,000 hour rule may surprise you--it did me.  I tend to overestimate the role of "natural talent" and underestimate the role of practice.

It kind of reminds me of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  Each man was given talents by his master.  They had a choice between maximizing or squandering what had been given to them.

Here's my point:
God has given all of us some kind of gift/talent.  I think we owe it to Him to be excellent--to make the most of whatever He gave us.  But there are no shortcuts to greatness--it's up to you to invest the necessary time to become great.