Reflection on The 10,000 Hour Rule

Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers is a complex yet interesting book which encompasses different events as well as topics that all ultimately prove why some people are prone to be successful over others. In chapter 2 of Outliers which is titled  The 10,000 Hour Rule, Gladwell expresses that for one to truly master a skill or trade, they must put in hours of hard work and dedication in order to be able to do so. He proves this on numerous occasions when talking about Bill Gates, The Beatles, etc. For example, Gladwell talks about The Beatles who were a band that had to play in Hamburg for eight hours straight (49). The only way they were able to get better as performers was to perform eight hours shows regularly through the week. This taught them how to be versatile and to traverse through different styles of music which taught them how to add flavor to multiple songs in different ways. While the title of this chapter is titled The 10,000 Hour Rule, the Beatles were able to become such good performers because they had gotten well over 10,000 hours of practice. One thing that catches my eye about Malcolm Gladwell and made me choose this chapter is how well he is able to string together events and turning points. I learned that success stories are not as simple as the world and some make it seem. On page 54, Gladwell points out that success is achieved through the unusual opportunities and turning points in an outlier's life.  For example, if Bill Gates did not have "access to a time-sharing terminal in 1968" or "happened to live within walking distance of the University of Washington" which "happened to have free computer time between three and six in the morning" then he might not have ended up creating Microsoft or becoming so skillful at programming. Reading this book has ultimately shown me that in order for one to become successful, there are rare opportunities that allow people to become successful. It makes me want to work harder in order to achieve the goals and levels of success that I desire for myself.