{"id":954,"date":"2009-07-09T10:02:21","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T17:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/what-are-you-going-to-be-exceptional-at-in-10-years\/"},"modified":"2018-04-04T02:52:14","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T09:52:14","slug":"what-are-you-going-to-be-exceptional-at-in-10-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/what-are-you-going-to-be-exceptional-at-in-10-years\/","title":{"rendered":"What are You Going to be Exceptional at in 10 Years?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many people set the right goals, but the wrong deadlines. They want to become a professional blogger, but set a deadline of 6 months, instead of 6 years. This short-term thinking detracts from the big picture<\/a>, where becoming really good at something takes at least a decade, not just 18 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cFreedom and success isn\u2019t about taking big risks. It\u2019s about becoming good enough at something society values, so you can dictate the terms for how you live your life.\u201d This was something productivity blogger Cal Newport<\/a> related to me.<\/p>\n

He said that he only knew a few examples of people who had reached success because of unconventional risk-taking. However, he said he knew many people that have tremendous personal freedom because they became exceptionally good at something the world values.<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s Your Next Decade Going?<\/h2>\n

Malcolm Gladwell puts the mark at 10,000 hours. That\u2019s a decade of work investing three hours to develop a skill, every day, for almost every week of the year. This is the number of hours it takes to become exceptional at something. Whether it\u2019s writing, programming, music, research or dentistry.<\/p>\n

Ten thousand might not be the exact number. For you it might be 8000, or 16,000. What matters isn\u2019t the exact number, but the kind of long-term thinking that goes along with it. Instead of asking yourself how you will reach a goal in 18 months. Figure out where you\u2019re going to spend your next decade.<\/p>\n

My Next Ten Years<\/h2>\n

For my next decade, I\u2019d like to work on becoming good at two things: writing and online micro-entrepreneurship. Writing, because even if I don\u2019t decide to sustain myself as a full-time writer it is a potent skill. Micro-entrepreneurship, because it\u2019s my biggest passion and I enjoy the challenges of running a small enterprise more than what I\u2019ve seen from friends who\u2019ve built larger ventures.<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019ve put in a little over three years on each of these skills. But, I fully expect it to take at least another ten to become exceptionally good at them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I refuse to get frustrated if I don\u2019t make immediate progress or I don’t start earning six-figures immediately. Because I\u2019m still far back on the curve and have a number of years to invest before I can become exceptional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I don\u2019t know where to invest the next decade of my life?\u201d<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m lucky because I\u2019ve found something I consider rewarding, and society values enough that I\u2019m able to make a profit off of it. Many people are stuck on one of either sides. Either they know what they love, but society doesn\u2019t value it. Or they know what society values, but they don\u2019t get any joy creating it.<\/p>\n

First, becoming exceptionally good can allow you to enjoy something more. Some of the dissatisfaction with a pursuit comes from a lack of skill. I enjoy writing far more now than I did when I started, because I\u2019m able to produce something I feel is of a decent quality. Exceptional ability can often produce a passion.<\/p>\n

Second, becoming exceptionally good allows you to dictate the terms of sustaining your life. If you are an exceptionally good accountant, you don\u2019t need to do routine book-keeping. You can work as a consultant, getting paid hundreds of dollars an hour to travel while working infrequently.<\/p>\n

A lot of work dissatisfaction comes from the things other than work itself. Bosses, staying inside an office, corporate culture, busywork, constant demands placed on your time and stress. Becoming exceptional affords you the opportunity in many cases to dictate the terms of all the other things associated to work.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Ask What You\u2019re Passionate About<\/h2>\n

Passion, can be a Catch-22. Often you need to have invested the hours to become good at something in order to build a passion. Skill produces the feedback that makes work enjoyable. Basketball isn\u2019t fun if you\u2019re awful at basketball. Writing isn\u2019t fun if you feel self-conscious about every sentence. Programming isn\u2019t fun if every compilation produces bugs.<\/p>\n

So, instead of asking what you\u2019re passionate about, ask yourself what you could become exceptionally good at that society values. Then, expect to spend the next decade becoming exceptionally good at it.<\/p>\n

Thanks to Cal Newport for initiating many of these ideas. Check out Cal\u2019s productivity\/student blog, Study Hacks<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people set the right goals, but the wrong deadlines. They want to become a professional blogger, but set a deadline of 6 months, instead of 6 years. This short-term thinking detracts from the big picture, where becoming really good at something takes at least a decade, not just 18 months. \u201cFreedom and success isn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,680],"tags":[405,408,406,183,143,407],"class_list":{"0":"post-954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-goal-setting","7":"category-nc-productivity","8":"tag-10000-hours","9":"tag-cal-newport","10":"tag-outliers","11":"tag-passion","12":"tag-skill","13":"tag-study-hacks","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat are You Going to be Exceptional at in 10 Years? - Scott H Young<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/what-are-you-going-to-be-exceptional-at-in-10-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What are You Going to be Exceptional at in 10 Years? - Scott H Young\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many people set the right goals, but the wrong deadlines. 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