10,000 hours...

I've have some thoughts tickling my brain this week that I feel compelled to put out there in the universe. This isn't really related to fitness as much as it is related to my experience in the industry thus far. 


They say it takes 10,000 hours to become proficient in your activity; to develop expertise.

Putting that into context, we're talking about at least 5 years of 40 hours/week with no vacations or days off.  That's a lot of hours.

It is literally about 95% more than what I have done so far. I'm about 1/20th of the way into 'expertise'.

The idea goes that the more you do something, the better you become at it.

This is probably true, for the most part. I'm not going to knock the value of practice.

But I have something to say about 10,000 hours....

While I may be new to Personal Fitness Training, I've spent the past 20  years directly or indirectly involved in coaching, mentoring or training others- I've been a Trainer for as long as I can remember.

Whether it was as a swim coach, gymnastics instructor, voice teacher, employee trainer, General Manager, Strategic Planner, Small Business Coach, or now as a PFT, helping others work their way through the learning process of setting goals and achieving them has been my life's work.

All told, I've banked way more than 10,000 hours in the "leadership" field. So, while I'd hesitate to refer to myself (or anyone else, for that matter) as an expert on Leadership, I'd like to think that I've picked up a few things along the way.

And if there's one thing I have learned, it is this:

An hour to one is not an hour to all. 

What I mean is that: quality almost always trumps quantity.

An hour of poor quality training/effort is worth very little.
Conversely, ten minutes of fully focused, fully engaged learning and growth can move mountains.

I recently had a conversation with colleagues about what qualifies an expert or a professional in my field. I took issue with the use of these terms being used interchangeably, just as I took issue with it being implied that I was *not* a professional because I am new to this field.

Let me be extremely clear here- I am not in any way challenging the knowledge and depth that comes with decades of experiences and working with hundreds of clients. There is absolutely NO doubt that, when it comes to movement mechanics, my knowledge is still academic and my practical experience is rudimentary.

But let's not conflate terms here. Inexperience doesn't negate me as a professional, nor does it automatically imply a lack of expertise.

This is my career. It is my life. I have spent the last three years fully immersed in this industry, including two years of full time, non stop post secondary experience. Despite being relatively new, I've already worked directly as a trainer with several dozens of different bodies, and have coached and facilitated group fitness with literally hundreds of different people.  That's one the beauties of group fitness- I literally see no less than 100 bodies moving every single week. It's extremely valuable in terms of practical experience.

And, in my relatively short time in this field, I can confirm that my statement above stands as true for fitness training as it does for everything else: An hour to one is not an hour to all. 

There are thousands of trainers who have been doing this longer than I have and the majority of them are probably better than I am right now.

They've logged more hours. I get how it works.

But while my hourly log has been shorter, I came to the game with a a few secret weapons: 1) almost two decades of work experience, in various fields, 2) an insatiable desire to learn, grow and excel, 3) an unwavering dedication to doing the best job I possibly can for my clients, and (here's the real kicker) 4) a whole lot of discipline.

If I don't know it, I will learn it.
If I don't understand, I will ask until I do.
And every single hour I spend in this trade, I spend 100% focused on the "prize"- delivering the absolute best experience I possibly can for the people I am working with.

So while I may only be at 500 or so hours, they've been 500 hours of "all in" effort; and, when it comes to performance, that effort will ultimately be the distinguishing factor.

The beautiful thing about lifelong learning is that I will never truly be an expert! The scope of human knowledge is simply too vast for me to ever immerse myself so completely as to truly be known as one- and most so-called "experts" will tell you that they are constantly still learning and being surprised by their field of interest.

Knowledge is as endless as the human experience. And if you are a passionate student, then you will only ever feel as though you are barely scratching it's surface.

But I am a professional. And I am skilled and knowledgeable. I bring passion, commitment and discipline to my field and I am growing as fast as I possibly can.

My hours are quality. And they are accumulating quickly.

So I might not be there yet, but give me half the time and I'll get there.

Game on, kids.