Jack Boss Coaching

There are a lot of things I’d like to think I’d be good at.  Maybe I’d be a damn fine screenwriter, an inspired junior senator, or a top notch museum curator.  I think I have what it takes to write novels, do stand-up and possibly design resorts with a social conscience.

But I’m not good at those things.  How do I know?  Because I don’t do them every day.  The return on doing something isn’t just getting it done, it’s getting better at doing it.  Conversely, doing something you have no interest in getting better at is a waste of resources better spent elsewhere.

Studies have shown that chess masters don’t think more moves ahead or compute their choices faster or more accurately than the less skilled player, they’re just more familiar with the possibilities.  How do you get familiar with the possibilities?   You play chess.  A lot.  Evidently, 10,000 hours is what you should plan to invest to become good at something.   40 hrs/wk x 48 wks/yr = 1920 hours/yr.  That’s five years, full-time.

That said, it’s not just repetition, it’s repetition with a push.  Doing the same thing in the same way is unlikely to make you better.  Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is.  Take on a new challenge. Try a different way.  Get a coach, mentor or adviser.

If I want to write, to develop my ideas and become fluent in their expression, or to get in the habit of  pushing my ideas further, then blogging seems like a good way to do it.  I’d like to think I’ll be good at it, but I know that I’ll only be good at it if I do it every day.