11.13.2012

Tuesday Tips-Be Prolific

I'm not sure if this tip is for you or for me, hopefully a little of both.

It goes back to some topics that I've touched on before, like the creative process and passionate but it's a little different too. To be considered an expert in something you need to spend at least 10000 hours doing it. At first you might think where would all those hours come from, but it's not really that long in the great scheme of things. Only 3 hours a day for 10 years, or 6 hours a day for 5 years. But I think expertise comes from both quality and quantity time. Be prolific and make the time count.

I love design and so I need to create until it seeps from my pores. I want photography to become second nature to me, to the point that I can adjust my shutter speed and iso in the dark. I need calluses where my hands grip the paint brush. When you're passionate about something you do it. A lot. Regardless of what your day job is that is what draws you back again. Passion will drive you when money won't and when tiredness and illness could make you take a break.

What are you passionate enough about that you want to become an expert?

11 comments:

  1. I am a passionate painter myself, I do it every night after coming from work. My routine has always been: waking up with a cup of coffee, lunch with my social media galores, eight hours of work in the kitchen, a cool bicycle ride to home, a nice warm shower, and last but not the least painting session with a nice glass of wine. Then there's sleep.

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  2. Writing and cello.

    Agreed about calluses. I'm always so proud when I've been practicing enough that I have them on the tips of my fingers from the strings. That's when you know it's becoming part of you. When you can just pick it up and feel like you never even put it down.

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  3. Beautiful post, I love how you write.
    I'd like to be an expert in my field of Politics, but academia is prohibitively expensive. I'm hoping I'll be able to get a lucky break and continue beyond my current degree.

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  4. True words! I've always complained I didn't have any "talents". My boyfriend can draw basically anything with eyes closed, but that's because he's been doing that since he was kid. So, when I say he has a gift he gets mad and tells me it's all due to his practice and hard work... so true!
    I also want to work on my photography and picture editing skills :)
    xox
    www.camilagcarneiro.blogspot.com.br

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  5. Editing and grammar. I want to know EVERYTHING I possibly can so that I never have questions about the proper use of colons or semicolons or the names of obscure editing marks. It will probably never happen, but I'd love it to!

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    Replies
    1. Grammar is the best. Glad to come across a fellow grammar nut!

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  6. I love this! (Prolific is a GRE vocab word, which I know because I have been studying my little tookus off for the past month). I want to be an expert poet! I want everything I write to be beautiful and moving and important--I can dream, right? ;) But really, I try to write and read poetry every day. I 100% believe that hard work pays off, in any field.

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  7. I REALLY needed to read this tonight. I'm currently in graduate school for costume design, and I literally work for 16-18 hours a day. I barely sleep.

    My passion is theatre, and I needed to be reminded of that.

    Thank you.

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  8. The harder you work, the greater you get... True, but only to a certain extent. After a work related fatigue depression (yes, work was my passion back then) I've realized that it's possible to burn yourself from anything you truly love. When you do something for 16-18 hours a day with no time for sleeping, eating, laughing, taking care of your body, socializing - you will eventually hit the wall. You will. And there will be no room for creativity when all the energy is gone.

    My passion is writing, but mostly, I stick to 30-60 minutes at a time. I have found a greater flow than ever before.

    We have only one life (to my belief), and we should enjoy it as much as we can and not put too much pressure on ourselves. Being the best isn't always the most important or gratifying.

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  9. I just wanted to add that my previous comment was not only a reply to this post itself, but also to some of the other comments to it.

    And. I also wanted to add that I've heard that the brain can only perform at its best 2-3 hours a day. Desperately trying to find the source...

    Yes, this is a subject I'm passionate about :-)

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  10. Good question ... in truth, I don't really know what my real passion is, for I am interested in a hundred different things. I love taking pictures, but that doesn't make me a photographer. I like creative nonfiction, but that doesn't make me a writer. Cooking is enjoyable, but I will never be a chef. I'm a collector of books, ideas, thoughts I can't quite piece together. I don't have that "one" thing that keeps me ticking. Is that good or bad, you think? For you, though, I hope you pick up your camera, your paintbrush, and put in all the time you need to make you a happy expert.

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Thanks for your nice words. I appreciate them so much.