⚡ Personal Growth
Practice, Not the 10,000-Hour Rule
K. Anders Ericsson, Research on deliberate practice (1993)
Synapse & Soul@synapse_and_soul•2 min read
Where the Number Came From1 / 3
In 1993 psychologist Anders Ericsson and colleagues studied violin students in Berlin. The best had accumulated far more hours of solitary practice by age twenty. Popular books later turned this into the “10,000-hour rule”.
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A research finding can lose its meaning when it becomes a slogan.
Hours Are Not the Point2 / 3
Ericsson objected to the rule. The number was an average, not a threshold, and what mattered was the kind of practice: deliberate practice, with clear goals, focused effort and immediate feedback.
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Ten thousand hours of the wrong practice can make you very good at the wrong thing.
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