In his book On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft Stephen King describes, in one of his many forewords, his initial reluctance to write that particular book. As a fiction writer he felt the desire to write about writing, but he left the work unfinished for a long time questioning his motivations. He didn’t want to write a book, even a short one, that would leave him feeling like either a literary gasbag or a trancendental asshole.

After a comment from another writer (a band member even) he decided to finish and publish the book. I’m glad he did, because even in the first chapter “CV” he writes a passage that I found to be very well thought through:

“This is not an autobiography. It is, rather, a kind of curriculum vitae — my attempt to show how one writer was formed. Not how one writer was made; I don’t believe writers can be made, either by circumstances or self-will (although I did believe those things once).

The equipment comes with the original package. Yet it is by no means unusual equipment; I believe large numbers of people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that those talents can be strengthened and sharpened. If I didn’t believe that, writing a book like this would be a waste of time.

This is how it was for me, that’s all. A disjointed growth process in which ambition, desire, luck and a little talent all played a part. Don’t bother to read between the lines, and don’t look for a through-line. There are no lines — only snapshots, most out of focus.”

This small amount of text holds a lot of experience and tells the tale of a paradigm shift. It also holds promise for everyone seeking to find a suitable profession that they actually enjoy (and there are lots of you seekers out there). It also holds a warning for those that already are on the right path. Read it carefully and you’ll find them.

What appealed to me in this piece was this part in particular:

The equipment comes with the original package. Yet it is by no means unusual equipment; I believe large numbers of people have at least some talent as writers and storytellers, and that those talents can be strengthened and sharpened. If I didn’t believe that, writing a book like this would be a waste of time.

Ever since I heard it (I have the audiobook) I’ve been going back to this bit and listen to it again and again. You have to believe that talents and skills can be strengthened and sharpened, it has to be the core belief for everybody with a desire to teach (like I have). That’s important.

But the statement about the equipment and the package is also vital. Everybody has talents, and not everybody has the same talents. Strengthening and sharpening equipment that’s there is useful, but for equipment that’s not included in the package, it’s utterly pointless and a waste of time for both student and teacher (or master and apprentice if you will).

It’s important then to find your equipment (sounds cheeky, but you know what I mean), to discover your talents and strengthen and sharpen them. Don’t bother to fill in the gaps, you were not made to fill those gaps anyway. And when you know what your equipment is, nurture it and exploit it simultaneously and make it work on your life’s work.

Knowing your life’s work is equally important by the way, lots of people are still in the dark on that one too. Your life’s work should be something you find important. The only way to find out is to find your path and starting walking on it. The path will show you which way to go and your talents will help you to decide when the path forks. That’s something I believe.

Stephen King’s passage can easily be rewritten for this blog, my blog about my path. It’s an account of my journey, my thoughts, my lessons learned, my uncertainties. Snapshots at best, most out of focus. But I trust that this path is my path and that it will show me which way to go. In the past I have taken detours (even recently), but my path keeps finding many inspiring ways, mostly through people, to get me back on track. Right now, it lead me to the desire to discover my talents. Haven’t given that much thought before.

This blog is not a self improvement blog. It is, rather, a kind of living memoir — my attempt to show how someone finds his path through life. Not how the path was created; I don’t believe paths can be created, either by circumstance or self-will (allthough I did believe those things once).

The path comes with the original package. Yet it is by no means a clear path; I believe large numbers of people have at least some vision of their path or future, and those visions can be strengthened and sharpened. If I didn’t believe that, writing this blog like this would be a waste of time.

This is how it is for me, that’s all. A disjointed growth process in which ambition, desire, luck and a little talent all play a part. Don’t bother to read between the lines, and don’t look for a through-line. There are no lines — only snapshots, most out of focus.

There it is.
What’s your path?

Imagine the fun you could have with 10k. For sheer fun, just take a moment and think about what you would do with 10k.

Take your time…I’ll be waiting right here.

…
…

Done?
Had fun?

Imagined yourself on a white sandy beach on a tropical island? Or skiing down a slope under a clear blue sky? Or did you imagine starting your own company?

No matter what you fantasized about I’m willing to bet that you translated the 10k into dollars (or maybe euros). Now what if I told you I was talking about hours.

Hours?!

Yes…you can have 10,000 hours of fun and become an expert in the meantime!
Oh wait…no, no I’m sure you didn’t think you could buy expert status, now did you? (hint: you can’t)

The 10,000 hours is not a random number, it’s a common estimate for the amount of hours you need to spend to even be considered an expert on a subject. And 10,000 hours is a whole lotta time I can tell ya!

Ten thousand hours!
10,000 days or 1429 weeks or 333 months or 27.4 years at 1 hour a day.
5,000 days or 714 weeks or 167 months or 13.7 years at 2 hours a day.
3,333 days or 476 weeks or 111 months or 9.1 years at 3 hours a day.
2,500 days or 357 weeks or 83 months or 6.8 years at 4 hours a day.
2,000 days or 286 weeks or 67 months or 5.5 years at 5 hours a day.
1,667 days or 238 weeks or 56 months or 4.6 years at 6 hours a day.
1,428 days or 204 weeks or 48 months or 3.9 years at 7 hours a day.
1,250 days or 179 weeks or 42 months or 3.4 years at 8 hours a day.

And to make all these comparisons complete, an entire year contains (only) 8,760 hours.

Looking back on my life I’ve spent enough hours to be eligible as an expert in the following areas:

• Sleeping (got 60,000+ hours down already!)
• Walking (est. 11,000 hours)
• Talking (est. 22,000 hours)
• Eating and Drinking (est. 11,000 hours)
• Being an employee (est. 16,000 hours)
• Being a spouse (131,000+ hours)
• Being a father (19,000+ hours)

And I’m not even close in these areas (although I thought I would be for some of them):

• Driving a car (est. 2,000 hours)
• Bathing (est. 3,000 hours)
• Gaming (est. 2,000 hours)
• Taekwondo (est. 1,000 hours)
• Doing DIY work (est. 1,900 hours)
• Reading, thinking, writing, learning about personal development (est. 2,600 hours)
• Reading, learning, visualising, practicing public speaking (est. 400 hours)
• … a vast array of other activities

I was quite startled by the enormous amount of hours I have spent as employee already. And even though I’ve spent many hours in that role, I’m sure that there’s not a single topic or a single activity that I have spent 10,000 hours on. (Or ever will.) Since I’m changing over to being an entrepreneur (not even close to 10,000 hours in that role!).

This exercise is interesting because people are very very bad at making accurate estimations. So sitting down, thinking about it with a calculator will give you insight in the amount of time you have put in some of these topics. And you probably will still be making bad estimations, but they’ll be less bad because of the time you spent on thinking about them for a while.

What’s an expert anyway?

According to the dictionary an expert is someone with extensive knowledge or ability in a given subject. If I take this definition and look through my list, there are a lot of areas I have spent the hours on, but I wouldn’t say that I have extensive knowledge or ability in that topic. I’m not an expert on sleeping for instance, even though I’ve got 60,000 hours down already.

Extensive knowledge or ability requires more than ‘just grinding through the hours’. It requires an interest in the topic, and learning, growing, experiencing, failing, experimenting, discussing and so on. It’s about going in depth on the subject or ability, or climbing to the higher levels in the learning curve.

Examples of famous people who have done so are:

• Tiger Woods – started playing golf at 2, won amateur championship at 15, went pro at 21. At 2 hours a day, starting at 2 years of age, you’ll be an expert by 15 years of age.
• Richard Branson – started his first business venture in high school, and never stopped after that. In his autobiography you can read that doing business was his way of living.
• Eddie van Halen – started playing the guitar as a teenager. In an interview when asked how he learned to play he answered:
  

  “Practice. I used to sit on the edge of my bed with a six-pack of Schlitz Malt talls. My brother would go out at 7pm to party and get laid, and when he’d come back at 3am, I would still be sitting in the same place, playing guitar. I did that for years — I still do that.”

• Stephen King – Started writing for fun in school, even sold short stories to friends at the time. King has a very simple formula for learning to write well.
  

  “Read and write four to six hours a day. If you cannot find the time for that, you can’t expect to become a good writer.”

If you put in the hours, and are willing to learn, you’ll get to the higher grounds of expertise.

10,000 hours of fun

Now all of these people have spent many many hours on a single subject, and many did so from a very young age already. The fact that they’re talented is helpful, but putting a lot of hard work into their talent is what made them successful and experts in their field.

But 10,000 hours is a very, very long time. So there’s got to be a secret to get through them right? And there is! You have to make sure that you have fun most of the time. You know how the saying goes: “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Make sure you have fun doing what you do, and you’ll be an expert in no time (it’ll feel like that anyway).

The best way to ensure you have fun working is to follow your passion. What are the things you can spend hours and hours on because you love to do them so much? These activities hold the seed for a profession in which you can excel and become an expert.

Make a list of what you LOVE to do

Now go make a list of things you LOVE to do. I’m not talking about things you like, but things you LOVE to do and have a special interest in. I like to watch movies every now and then for example, but I don’t LOVE to watch movies. I couldn’t watch movies 6 hours straight. On the other hand I love learning about human behavior and self improvement. I can read books for hours, days in a row on that topic.

In what area do you want to be an expert?
Or did you just find out that you already are well on your way to expert levels?

Should you have difficulty with coming up with ways to turn your passion into a profession, share your passion in the comments and I’ll help you come up with ideas (and everybody’s free to pitch in their ideas of course!).

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

Wednesday. 5:12am
It’s dark in the bedroom.

The faint light emitted by the display of a cell phone illuminates the inside of a small closet. A guy is fumbling around in a drawer with socks, apparently not finding what he needs.

He’s acting quietly, only two steps away from a bed. One side of the bed is still warm, the other side is still in use.

After rummaging around some more, they guy picks up a pair of socks and quietly leaves the room.

I’ve been running for a three weeks again, training to finish half a marathon in the autumn this year. Last Wednesday during my run I learned a couple of things. One of them is that improper socks increase the chance of blisters (ouch).

Over the past four runs I have increased both my distance and speed on every run:

1. 3.5 km | 21:19 | 9.8 km/h
2. 4.2 km | 25:30 | 9.9 km/h
3. 5.0 km | 29:55 | 10.0 km/h
4. 6.1 km | 35:28 | 10.3 km/h

That’s really encouraging, but I should look out for getting overly confident. As you can see in the increase in distance, well even that increasing. First 0.7 km more, then 0.8 km and even 1.1 km on the last run. At this pace, I’ll be running marathons in a matter of weeks! (yes, that’s overconfident)

During that run though, my body was giving me signals. My stamina was not a problem, but my right knee was protesting a little. I noticed a faint irritation, a muscle maybe. Somewhat later, I began to realize that I was developing a blister on one of my toes on my right foot. Hmm, the right side again.

This week I began reading a new book Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and Rich: Spike’s Guide to Success, and while running I was going through the “8 to be great”. Push and Persist are two of them. So I pushed myself and persisted.

Later that day, my ankle started sending me messages as well. The right ankle. Right again…

Stop right there, Lodewijk! Your body is sending messages, stop and listen, it usually has something meaningful to tell you.

The knee and the ankle.
They show faint feelings of irritation. Nothing serious, will cure with some rest. The solution is to ease the schedule a bit. Don’t overdue it, is what they try to teach me.

All irritations on the right side.
This is a sign of improper technique I guess. I’m not dividing the strain evenly over all parts of my body. Something to focus on in the next run, maybe even find someone who can train me proper technique.

Blisters.
They tell me to use proper equipment. Not regular socks, but socks made for running. Not tennis shoes, but running shoes. Yeah, I knew this but ignored it anyway. Not smart…thank you blisters.

The messages are only warnings, no injuries…yet.

Warning that I may be pushing too hard. So besides getting the right attitude and right equipment, it’s also time to learn some more about training schedules for marathons. After all, I don’t want to get injured by ignorance.

Time to learn something from the people who did this before. Successfully.

A lot of people are mind readers. Some people are even very proficient at it, reading minds of people every day, all day long. And most of the time, they get it so wrong. Mind reading is a dangerous trait.

The practice of mind reading

Of course I’m not talking about some supernatural phenomenon, a paranormal ability or extrasensory perception. I’m talking about a trait, or maybe a habit even. The habit of presuming to know what other people are thinking, without sufficient evidence of those thoughts. Some examples:

• “He must think I’m stupid for not knowing the answer to that question.”
• “When I ask for directions, she probably thinks I’m not man enough to take care of myself.”
• “If I’m not working full-time he thinks I’m not ambitious or that I’m taking advantage of his money.”
• “If I bring flowers, she probably thinks I have to make up for something.”
• “Oh my gosh he brought flowers…would that mean that…oh my gosh!”

Get the picture? “Reading” the mind of the other person, without knowing what’s really on their mind!

What makes matters worse is that people act upon those imagined thoughts, as if they were actual thoughts of the other! And that in turn might set off a whole series of events, leading to a great and possibly very damaging misunderstanding. I know, I’ve seen it again this week. Big time!

Click to continue »

Photo by Dogbomb

You’re approaching the new person you’re about to meet.

It’s nearly time to speak…time to announce to the new person who you are.

You swallow to clear your mouth…silently you rehearse what you’re about to say. The moment is nearly there!

You take a deep breath while you move your hand forward in an inviting manner. The hands touch, and you say your name, loud and clear so it can be remembered, while firming the grip of the handshake.

Aah…you did it! The tension fades away as you exhale while your name still echoes in the room…you did it again. You stated your name clearly, and you didn’t accidentally spit while you said it. Perfect!

Suddenly you feel the grip of the handshake lose strength…oh damn! Your heart skips a beat while you realize you missed the other’s name.

You remember hearing a murmur, but you were so busy being proud, that your attention slipped… boy! it’s gonna look stupid to ask for the name now…better avoid using names all together today.

Recognize yourself in this scene? It sucks, doesn’t it?

It’s amazing how many people follow this strategy. In their minds everything builds up momentum to the climax: introducing themselves! And in the short period of time when energy levels recover from such a big accomplishment, they miss the name of the other person. And that makes for a bad start in remembering names, I can tell you that!

But even if you have heard the name, will you still remember it 5 minutes from now? Or in an hour? Or tomorrow? And if you met 10 people in 5 minutes…would you still remember the names of all the people the next day? Odds are you can’t do it. Most people can’t. Or to be more precise, most people can’t do it YET. Click to continue »