The 10,000-Hour Myth: Why Grinding Harder Won't Make You Great
How to build expertise without wasting years of your life...
Hustling, grinding, suffering, relishing in pain, these are all pushing in the current hustle porn we see on the internet.
Its pushed by Jocko Willink, David Goggins and other so called ‘alpha male’ figures.
This theme is especially prevalent in the fight world. Trainers will make their fighters do the dumbest shit, just to build ‘mental toughness’ in their athletes.
All of this applause of grinding, stems from the 10,000 hour rule.
Popularised by Malcom Gladwell, the claim is that to achieve mastery, 10,000 hours must be poured into the craft. It’s been found in musicians, programmers, athletes, but there’s 1 common issue with this rule…..
Quality is not factored in.
A far more accurate barometer in my eyes, is 10,000 ITERATIONS, let me explain with what I see with my experience in martial arts gyms.
I have a good friend Kyrin, who had his first amateur Muay Thai fight within the first 6 months of training the sport. He completely lapped all of the guys there who have trained for 5 years, 10 years & beyond. Why? The level of intention this kid has is unparalleled.
He would take hand written notes after every single session, he did frequent private classes with the head coach at the gym, he was a sponge. Him & I actually came up with a skill development method of having monthly focus points, leveraging AI & voice notes, which has skyrocketed our progress compared to everyone else in the gym.
So if we use the 10,000 iterations rule, what are some ways that we don’t need to waste 10,000 hours of our life building towards mastery like everyone else?
1. LEARN FROM THE VERY BEST & PAY A PREMIUM
I personally went to 4 different gyms before I found my martial arts coach. You need to always be looking for the very best skills coach if you want to accelerate progress. You need to be able to spot high level coaching, you also need to ask them why they do things a certain way… If they can’t answer that, they are winging it. To this day I still do privates at least once a month, and its the best $100 an hour I could ever spend.
2. STRUCTURE YOUR ITERATIONS
Any skill you are developing, you should be focusing on the biggest needle mover (which a good coach will identify). When I realised Muay Thai is literally the art of balance & rhythm, I built all of my skill development on this principle, and it completely changed the way I train. On top of this, every private I have weaknesses that I work on, have drills that address those weaknesses, then I battle test them in sparring.
3. USE COMPETITION TO STRESS TEST YOUR SKILLS
Competition will bring out a gaping hole in your game. When you’re under maximal pressure, this is when your fundamentals crumble. This is where you can learn huge lessons, even if you lose or make huge mistakes. If you can’t perform on your very worst day, you’re not as good as you think.
4. SKILL STACK
Learning how to develop skills quickly is a skill in & of itself. And I have found that the guys around me that develop the fastest a) invest in their learning through coaching, consulting with experts & cutting the learning curve. b) They are obsessed with learning whatever skill they are in the process of developing. c) They will actually drill and work on feedback instead of going through the motions in any skill development setting.
5. BE OBSESSED
If you don’t give a shit, you won’t go down rabbit holes. Arguably the only hobbies and skills worth developing are those that feel like play to you. Who is more likely to succeed? The investor who loves deal flow, talking to VCs & the excitement of deals keeping them up at night…. Or the guy who is just doing it to pay the bills. No brainer.
The biggest takeaway from this piece, is focusing on 10,000 iterations, not 10,000 hours.
The same principle can be applied to your life, how many of you have stayed in a relationship where you needed to iterate & find someone more suitable to your lifestyle design.
How many of you are afraid to iterate away from a career choice & you feel locked in for the next 30 years?
How many of you refuse to iterate your thought process & mindset, who want to stay pessimistic, say that everything is a scam and that those doing better than you got lucky?
You’re 10,000 iterations from being whoever the fuck you want to be.
J.Krucial.
Awesome! Just Awesome!
The biggest takeaway for me is that "everything is an iteration". Every Meeting that I attend; Every workout session that I do; Every conversation; Every activity is an iteration.
What different am I going to do? After every activity that I do, I promise to reflect on it and take notes of what went well, what didn't work, and what could have been better. I will also be more intentional about every activity - Why am I here? What do I want to get out of time spent on this activity.
Thank you so much for sharing.
This really speaks to something I’ve been leaning into for a while: less willpower, more alignment.
Grinding might get you somewhere, but often it just buries your intuition. Iteration, when done with clarity and attention, creates a feedback loop that feels more like flow than force.
Add to that what you said about focusing on the craft you’re naturally obsessed with, and you become almost invincible.
You’re absolutely right—it’s not hours, it’s presence.
This piece lands hard. Thank you.