We're Working Towards Our 10,000 Hours

The following is a blog post by Dan Miller, author of 48 Days To the Work You Love. You can read the post below or read it from his website by clicking here.

Put in 10,000 hours – then we’ll talk

I frequently encounter employees who want a guaranteed salary before they show up the first day, musicians who want to be signed before they’ve proven their talent, house cleaners who want to be paid even if not needed, celebrities who expect a meaningful marriage after a 3-day romance, and authors who want my endorsement for their book but don’t want to “give” me a copy to read.

Have we forgotten that to reap a harvest of corn you have to first plant seeds, and to receive warmth from a stove you must first put wood in?

Charles Dickens wrote for the Evening Chronicle for nearly three years with no payment. Much to his surprise and delight, he was then approached by a young publisher who wanted to collect his writings into a volume along with ten prints from an illustrator. That success led to The Pickwick Papers and made him the most popular author in the world at that time (1836). Over the next twenty years, more than 1.6 million copies of Pickwick were sold.

Joanne and I taught a free weekly seminar called CareerLink for over eight
years, simply encouraging people and giving them our own copies of information that would help them, before the overnight success of 48 Days to the Work You Love.

In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell says that people who attain extraordinary success put in 10,000 hours before reaching their “success.” Today too many people are expecting a short-cut to fame and fortune.

What are you doing to put in your 10,000 hours toward the dream you know is coming?

Humility In the Muck and Mire of Change

I read the following insert in the book 48 Days by Dan Miller:

The "Humus" in My Life

If you are a backyard gardener, you appreciate the value of humus--the decayed leaves and vegetable matter that feeds the roots of your plants. It's interesting to note that the same root word for humus gives rise to the word humility, explaining that the "humiliating" events of my life, the events that leave "mud in my face," may be the fertilizer in which something new and great can grow.

Fifteen years ago I crashed and burned in my business. Handshake relationships with the bank changed and my notes were called. I was forced into selling a health and fitness center at auction, resulting in owing more than $100,000 in personal debt. That "humiliating" experience refined my thinking and understanding of business. Today, I am free of bank debt and have a nontraditional business, and incredible sense of meaning and purpose in my work, and far more income than I did back in those days.

Remember, it's usually in the midst of muck and mess that the conditions for rebirth are being created.

"That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten." (Joel 1:4 KJV)

"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you." (Joel 2:25 KJV)

It Doesn't Happen Overnight

The following excerpt is from an entry on Dan Miller's 48 Days website. The title of the full entry is What On Earth Have You Done?

However, an authentic spirituality will celebrate our capacity to learn, grow and develop – using the seeds of talent given to each of us by God and then developing them into something useful and inspiring. No baby is born a great writer, artist, scientist, mommy or apostle of peace. Studying, practicing and polishing our creative gift is not a selfish bid for attention and fame. If you don’t do that you grieve our Creator and deprive the world of the gift you were intended to deliver.

Are we putting too much pressure on ourselves to change? Have we considered the idea that the process might be a little easier if we gave ourselves time to change?


"For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth:" (Ecclesiates 3:1 .NET)

"Have a Good Idea? Expect Opposition" by Dan Miller

I read this on Crosswalk.com today. It's another example of why we should not give up our dreams of change during our time of change.

Have a Good Idea? Expect Opposition
by Dan Miller
48days.com

One of the great thinkers of the world was Plato. In describing his primary philosophy he compared people to prisoners chained in a cave. There is only a small fire illuminating our environment. The only reality we know is that tiny space in our cave. But every now and then some cave dweller breaks free from the chains, steps out of the cave and is immediately blinded by the light.

He can only see a blurry version of the Truth because his eyes cannot adjust to what all he sees. Eventually though, he will see a new reality that his old comrades cannot. So the enlightened individual returns to the cave and tries to tell the others what they are missing. Now here's where it gets interesting. Will he be welcomed with open arms? Will his old comrades thank him for sharing his new insights and opportunities? Not according to Plato. He suggests that the prophet will be killed by his former colleagues -- which history appears to confirm.

So 2300 years later -- are you surprised when your former co-workers think you're stupid for suggesting you can survive without a "real job" with "real benefits?" Or for believing that you can take your idea for making a better yo-yo and turn it into real income? Or for building a straw house (like my son Kevin is doing in ). Don't you remember the three little pigs? Well, sometimes old fairy tales just aren't true.

Don't expect your great idea to be embraced by all the old cave dwellers. There will always be whiners, naysayers, and small thinkers. If you're on a different path you can expect criticism, ridicule and laughter as they huddle around their little but familiar fire. Just don't let them kill you -- or your idea. Keep looking for more light.

Originally posted March 2008.

"If one of you is planning to build a tower, you sit down first and figure out what it will cost, to see if you have enough money to finish the job." - (Luke 14:28 GNB)

Ducks Quack and Complain While Eagles Soar

I believe the following is found in Dan Miller's book No More Mondays. If not, it can be found in issue 497 of the 48 Days newsletter.

Ducks Quack - Eagles Soar

No one can make you serve customers well....that's because great service is a choice. Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.

He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey.

He handed Harvey a laminated card and said: 'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment....

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' Harvey said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.' Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.' Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today..'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed Harvey another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts...

'Tell me, Wally,' Mr McKay asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.'

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers.. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.

'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. Harvey says he's probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever he goes to their cities, he gives them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told him all the reasons they couldn't do any of what he was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar

Have a nice day, unless you already have other plans.