Doing What You Love

I like to think about things. At times this turns into overthinking, but I would rather take the chance of overthinking than underthinking. One of the things I’ve been thinking about lately is the difference between a professional and an amateur. In our culture an amateur is someone who does something for the fun of it. A professional does something for pay. A professional, is expected to have a higher level of skill than an amateur. When we call someone an amateur we usually have an at least slightly derogatory view of their skill.

In How to Make Yourself an Expert I talked about the amount of time in practice it takes to become a world-class expert in a field. It takes about 10,000 hours of practice to reach that level of proficiency, or around 10 years in normal circumstances. This works out to about 3 hours of practice a day, or 20 - 25 hours a week.

This is the root of the perception of amateurs as less skilled than professional. It is difficult to have the time to attain an expert level of accomplishment unless you are independently wealthy, have passive income streams, or are being paid for your work. (But now I know why professionals are said to have practices. We’re paying them to become proficient. ) Not impossible, but difficult. It takes many more years of practice.

We often hear the advice to do something we are passionate about. This is one more reason why we should do so. It’s a classic virtuous circle. The more you enjoy something, the more you practice it. The more you practice, the better you are. The better you are, the more you enjoy it.

Life is as hard as we make it. Make it easier by doing something you love.

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