Malcolm Gladwell once said that it takes 10,000 hours to perfect any craft. Let’s look at the math.
If you dedicate 20 hours a week to your passion, it would take you 10 years to master your craft. This makes sense because there’s a well known saying that it takes 10 years to be an overnight success. Talent is great but that’s only one piece of the whole. Hustle and a whole lot of W-O-R-K is what separates the “coulda-shoulda-woulda” stories from the success stories.
So what gets in the way?
It’s easy to look at the “lack of opportunities” and say that’s why we don’t advance as quickly as we’d like to. In reality, opportunity is by chance. It’s created. Showing up is great but that’s not enough.
Let’s say you show up for an audition. OK cool. You can’t get a part if you don’t first show up for it. BUT there’s also something at play.
Limiting beliefs are the silent killer of many dreams. If you show up and think you’re not good enough and you allow that to affect your audition then it won’t matter how many times you show up. Learning how to “get out of your own way” is the precursor to simply “showing up.”
Whether you’re an actress or a producer or an illustrator, you are a storyteller. The choices we make fill up the pages in the story of our lives. This year has seen many shifts and pivots, breakthroughs disguised as breakdowns. Being able to “pursue your passion” and “live the dream” often comes at a price. Aside from money as a currency, there are a few other forms of currency that we use to invest in our passion + dreams.
TIME.
This is usually the most common type of currency. We spend 10,000 hours to perfect our craft. We trade time for services. We also put a price tag on our time. Time cannot be reset nor can we get it back so when we trade our time, it’s important to do so strategically in order to maximize the spend.
ENERGY.
This is not something you see but something you feel. When we spend energy on something we are giving up a piece of our mind, body and soul. Thinking, doing and creating take up energy so it’s important to be frugal with how you spend your energy.
RESOURCES.
What else can you leverage? Knowledge? Contacts? These are all resources that you can use as currency. It’s often the lifeline for bartering opportunities. The more you know, the wealthier you are with resources as your currency.
The next time you invest in your career and/or business, take inventory of how you’re spending what you have. Money is the easiest form of currency to trade but it’s not the only type of currency that can help fund your dreams.