In my last post, I asked the question, “Is suffering a precursor to learning?” Could it also be a precursor to becoming a great Christian, a great parent, or a great pastor?
Here are some insights from two books: Geoff Colvin’s “Talent Is Overrated” and Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”:
Talent is overrated. You are not a natural-born clarinet virtuoso or car salesman or bond trader or brain surgeon—because no one is. A number of researchers now argue that talent means nothing like what we think it means, if indeed it means anything at all. In studies of accomplished individuals, researchers have found few signs of precocious achievement before the individuals started intensive training.
Great performance isn’t a result of inborn abilities, intelligence or experience. It takes a willingness to suffer through “deliberate practice.”
Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. More of it equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.
The 10,000-hours rule says that if you look at any kind of cognitively complex field, from playing chess to being a neurosurgeon, we see this incredibly consistent pattern that you cannot be good at that unless you practice for 10,000 hours, which is roughly ten years. (source)
Ten thousand hours is an enormous amount of time. It’s all but impossible to reach that number all by yourself by the time you are a young adult.
This all seems to fit with Paul’s thoughts about running toward the mark and bringing his body under complete control (I Cor. 9:26-27). So, to become a really good Christian, parent, pastor…or really good anything:
- It is hard
- It hurts
- It takes years
- We can’t do it alone.
Could this be the reason the early church came together in the first place and can we replace coming together even with our Digital Age connections? This research confirms we may need to get back to these authentic conversation, real encouragement and discipline. From what I’ve been hearing, people are ready and looking for it. Do you feel this is true?
Okay – great post – now we’re talking. I’m not even going to try and touch the nature, nuture stuff. I can argue both sides too much.
But I will say that just yesterday, I laughed while talking with a friend who has complimenting gifts to mine and one could say complimenting weaknesses – I said, “Don’t you think this is a part of the love and sense of humor of God – to make sure we couldn’t do this on our own – that we would need each other?”
Michael
I’m learning as I get older you can’t do it on your own. Even the smaller things require a I Cor 12 approach. Humility is the key for sure.