Category: Devotional Thoughts

10,000 Hours: The Price of Greatness

Practice isn’t the thing you do once you are good.  It’s the thing you do that makes you good.
-Malcolm Gladwell

A few years ago I read Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell.  It’s a fascinating book, and one concept has stayed with me to this day.

Gladwell begins one particular chapter by discussing a 1990’s study of Berlin’s elite Academy of Music.  Students were divided into three groups: the “stars,” those who were only “good,” and those who were unlikely to play professionally.

They discovered one factor that separated these three groups–practice.  The best players had practiced relentlessly, putting in around 10,000 hours (starting from childhood) before they enrolled in the academy.  Similar patterns were discovered among pianist.  This was surprising–the researchers didn’t find any exceptions (no “naturals” who effortlessly achieved excellence; no “grinds” who put the time in but didn’t make elite status).

The author looks at other examples of this 10,000 hour rule:

*Mozart started writing music at age six, but his greatest work came after he had been composing for twenty years.

*It takes about ten years to become a chess grandmaster.

*Bill Gates was introduced to computers as a teenager (an era when access to computers was extremely rare).  He spent thousands of hours on computer programming before graduating high school.

*The Beatles performed for hours on end in a German club during the early 60’s (sometimes playing eight hours straight, seven days a week).  They were just a mediocre high school band before spending all this time on stage.

The list goes on.

This 10,000 hour rule may surprise you–it did me.  I tend to overestimate the role of “natural talent” and underestimate the role of practice.

It kind of reminds me of the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  Each man was given talents by his master.  They had a choice between maximizing or squandering what had been given to them.

Here’s my point:
God has given all of us some kind of gift/talent.  I think we owe it to Him to be excellent–to make the most of whatever He gave us.  But there are no shortcuts to greatness–it’s up to you to invest the necessary time to become great.

Extravagant Love

My wife and I are celebrating seven months of marriage today. The time is flying by and I’ve never been happier.

I ordered seven pink roses for her—one for each month of marriage. This carefully arranged bouquet is both beautiful and fragrant. The rosebuds have begun to open since my wife placed them in our vase. I’m reminded of how blessed I am each time I glance over at the colorful petals, now slowly coming into full bloom.

There’s one word I would not use to describe this “monthsary” gift: practical. Lovely as they are, these flowers will soon wilt away. We’ll have no choice but to throw them out with nothing tangible to show for the spent money

But I didn’t think twice about ordering this gift for my wife. Why? The smile on her face was worth it to me. I’ll only have one opportunity to experience my first year of marriage. I don’t want to look back at this year and have any regrets.

This small token of my love reminds me of a story we read in John’s Gospel a few days ago:

Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
-John 12:1-8

Mary’s gift wasn’t just impractical—it was extravagant. The perfume mentioned was probably imported from India and usually came in very small containers. Such a large jar would have been hard to find and extremely expensive. Judas correctly assessed the value and unwittingly gave us insights as to the depth of her love for Jesus.

Scholars debate the exact meaning of Jesus’ reference to his burial. But one thing seems clear to me: this gift was fitting for a Savior who would soon give his life at Calvary.

Extravagant love. We know Jesus deserves it, but how often to we really demonstrate it? Do we, like Mary, believe that nothing is too valuable pour on Jesus’ feet?