10,000 Hours

Commitment is the new black. ~ Andrew Sullivan

In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell studied highly successful people and came up with the theory that applying 10,000 hours of dedicated practice was required to perfect a skill or master a field. He talks about how the Beatles played hundreds of concerts in Germany before they performed on Ed Sullivan, Bill Gates had access to computers years before most, and Tiger Woods was swinging a golf club from the age of three.

I have also read how Beyoncé was singing and dancing in heels since she was around ten, and heard Megan Trainor talk about writing something like 2000 songs before making it big. And what about those Olympic athletes? How many breaststrokes or back-flips did Michael Phelps or Simone Biles have to do before winning their gold medals?

Whether the “10,000 Hours” rule is accurate or not, it speaks to dedicating oneself to their work, their craft, their art or sport in a serious way over a significant and consistent period of time. With our 24/7 world of distraction and superficiality, it is getting increasingly difficult to focus and commit oneself to anything: whether it is a career path, a specific skill or habit you want to develop, a new relationship, or reading an actual book or even full-length article!

In the big picture of things however, the most important commitment you can make is to yourself. Knowing, accepting and loving who you are and the cycles of personal growth and TIME it will take to become your very best in order to maximize your potential and prosperity – this is the root of all the other commitments. If you have done that, only then you can think about and be successful in what specifically you want to “practice” as part of the journey. What can you commit (or have been committing) 10,000 hours to right now, remembering that this can change as your life grows and evolves?

Over the past few months I’ve been feeling like I’ve hit a turning point professionally in my work with clients and thinking about this concept, that perhaps I’ve hit my 10,000 hours? And then on Monday LinkedIn reminded me it was my 9 (?!) year anniversary as a professional coach.

I really didn’t know what I was doing or what I should call myself when I started back then, and have no formal training or certifications, but hundreds of you have trusted me over these years with the honor of helping you get unstuck and on the right track with your career and life, and in turn that has fulfilled me in mine.

I have always approached my work in a very organic way, and the title that currently seems to fit is holistic career coach. My ability to quickly and accurately assess and advise clients about who they are and what they should be doing with their lives has blossomed more that I could have imagined, yet at the same time deep down I trusted it would evolve in a way that would best serve those who sought my services.

That in and of itself has been an interesting journey for me, and the results are reflected in the feedback I have received. Here is some of the most recent:

The 30 minutes we spent discussing my general career malaise and concern over what to do next were infinitely more helpful than the hours I’ve spent discussing this with other people in my life.

By the end of the conversation, I had an actionable plan, a timeline and confidence to invest in myself that I’ve never had before.

Her questions really got me thinking and she made me aware that my some of my goals were not actually out of reach but with hard work could be obtained.

After the session I felt so empowered and revved up, I felt like I was ready to take on the world! – and I still do. Kristina really listened and provided insightful feedback to get my life back or going in a more positive direction that will ultimately make me happier.

My hour with Kristina felt more like a therapy session than a career coaching session, but it turns out that is exactly what I needed!

She’s great at identifying the root cause of a problem (even when you think you might have had the answer to begin with) …. I can tell you after about 20 minutes of her asking all the right questions, she wrapped everything up for me in a nice package in the final minutes and BAM I had a breakthrough.

I have a new focus for my career, and I will continue to leverage her knowledge in order to find that perfect job!

I came away feeling empowered, more confident about who I am as a job seeker and more aware of my strengths.

After working with Kristina for over a year and landing my dream job, I can say that I feel joy with every dollar I earn.

She’s not going to tell you what you want to hear, she’s going to tell you what you NEED to hear. A great listener and motivator. Time and money well spent.

And how timely that just this past Friday, right before my anniversary, I received an email out of the blue from someone who I only did a half hour session with weeks ago with this simple one-liner message:

Kristina, Thanks for giving me a new look on life.

What can be a better job than that? 🙂

A great big THANKS goes out to all of you who have ever worked with me – your trust and faith in my abilities has allowed me to put in my “10,000 hours” and I would have never gotten this far and been able to do work that I absolutely love and suits me best without your support. I look forward to working with many more of you over the next 9 years and beyond!

Read more about my journey and work in these past PGG’s:

All Roads, Same Place | And Now, A Word from Our Sponsor | Strong Medicine

Read over thirty 5-star “Yelp” style reviews here

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If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person! Click on above links for info about my coaching and speaking services and contact me today.

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FEELING STUCK IN YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!

Last November I was one of the career experts featured in a panel discussion hosted by The Muse. Here is the full length video where you can hear my thoughts on career transition, working with a coach, building confidence and handling emotions in the workplace.