source: 10000hours.com

Whether you are scrolling though Facebook, Google + or even Twitter, people generally post about their passions, or what they appear to be good at. Why is this? Is it because they are bragging, sharing, or keeping themselves accountable? It could be a little of each, but chances are they have set goals for themselves and they are striving to get there. The images and the posts mark their progress.

For instance, do some of your friends post pictures of working out all the time? It is very possible that they post to inspire themselves, others or they could be sharing strategies or even holding themselves accountable. It is also possible that they have had a time in their life when they struggled with working out and made a commitment to become better. According to Malcolm Gladwell in the book Outliers, most people are not “gifted” but rather they put in the hard work and effort to be successful. Gladwell, after culling through some research, settled on the 10,000 hour rule. If you are willing to spend 10,000 hours doing something, chances are you will be successful at it. Think about it, you didn’t become a great teacher (or administrator) over night. If you worked 40 hours a week, for 45 weeks (as a teacher) it would take you about 5 and 1/2 years to get your 10,000 hours.

How long is 10,000 hours? Since we only have 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year, there is only so much time to devote to 10,000. Taking the example from above, if your goal is be in optimum physical shape through working out, and you could only devote 2 hours a day, it would take you about 13 years to get to the 10,000 hours. Does this mean that it will take 13 years to get into shape? No. But I hope you realize that theoretically you would be far better off then when you began. The 10,000 hour rule has drawn a lot of criticism, but for the sake of this post, just remember, if you put in the time, you will get results.

So what are you willing to try in 2015? Are you willing to put in the time and effort (along with resources, assistance from others, and good old fashioned commitment)? Remember, a 1,000 mile journey begins with one step (or one hour).