The Circumstances of Success

Outliers- extremely successful people in society- are the subject of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. In Outliers, Gladwell argues that success does not only derive from "diligence, self-sacrifice, intelligence, and innate talent." He encourages us to look at the conditions and circumstances that surrounded these individuals such as their birth date, cultural legacy, and background. The Chapter that stood out most to me was Chapter 2, The 10,000 - Hour Rule, because he expands on the idea of hard work and its rewards. The notion that worth having comes easy is widely know. We all know that what we put in is what we will get out. We also know that those who succeed are bright and gifted in some way. However, we often overlook the relationship between success and opportunity. Gladwell uses studies on the practicing habits of expert and amateur violin and chess players to show the no one gets to the top without practice. In order for one to achieve expertise in anything, it takes 10,000 hours to do so. One must also have the support and resources to be able to spend 10,000 hours practicing. I enjoyed the way Gladwell took the success stories of Bill Gates and the Beatles to challenge the common ideas about how success works. These individuals were not only born at the “perfect time” but they also took advantage of their opportunity which allowed them to get all those hours of practice in. After reading this chapter, I considered what factors could potentially help me succeed. I have to admit that always considered myself fortunate and perhaps even privileged to live in a “first world country”. However, I had never considered how important a factor my birth date is to my future success. I see how important the year I was born is now because as someone who is about to apply to college, I see that more and more people are graduating from high school and enrolling in college. Although most kids who go to public schools come from low-income families, this can also be a source of opportunity because there are many programs that exist today tailored for different types of students. I myself am part of a program that provides me with SAT tutoring and materials as well as a network of people that work in different fields. I also have parents who are involved in all aspects of my life. Some takeaways from this book are that it is important to network, to take the opportunities presented to us, and practice everyday.