10,000 Hours. Or My Commitment to Doing Good Work.


on Jan 28, 2013

“That’s what separates the wheat from the chaff. That’s what makes a CEO a CEO.” - Gillian Muessig, SEOmoz

You would think Gillian Muessig, SEOmom – who was on a cycling and business tour to India and spent time in our office for the better part of a fortnight – would be talking about some esoteric and vague values such as vision, leadership. NO.

she's my mom 1She was talking about: blogging. She was referring to her son Rand Fishkin (@randfish), CEO and co-founder of SEOmoz who has been blogging every single day since the inception of the blog. No matter what happened during the day, a blog would be up at night. He blogs about what he knows best: "inbound marketing, SEO, startups & entrepreneurship". He shares all that he knows about his business and discusses all. He’s social in a true sense.

Sceptics questioned his policy of talking about business secrets out in the open which could lead to people siphoning off work. But he wasn’t worried. The response invariably was: “If they are going to do it themselves, they were never our customers; if they are our customers, they will come to us when they are going to see our expertise.”

Yes, this approach backfired sometimes. But this paid off more than it backfired. SEOmoz is one of the first, biggest and most successful online marketing communities in the world. The blog is visited by millions of viewers. If you can get published in their blog, you can coolly double the price of your services and people will be willing to pay.

And after a very public battle, they received a funding of $18 million last year.

This reminds me of my favourite blogger and a fellow libertarian Amit Varma (@amitvarma) who, unfortunately, doesn’t blog enough now and is on to bigger and better things such as writing novels and winning Poker championships. He wrote a column on 10,000 hours in 2010. He writes:

Natural talent alone isn’t enough to make you good. You have to work damn hard, and practice damn hard. Some researchers have even put a number to how many hours of practice you need to achieve excellence: 10,000 hours.

[…]

The part of the study that I find astonishing is that not only did all the top performers have over 10,000 hours of practice to their credit, but everyone who put in 10,000 hours was a top performer. The key to excellence was not natural talent, but hard work. (Caveat: this is not to say that talent doesn’t matter at all. Firstly, as the researchers pointed out, there was a minimum level of talent required to get into the Academy. Secondly, a completely untalented musician would probably not get the positive feedback for his work that would motivate him to put in 10,000 hours in the first place.)

This all leads me to conclude that, since I am in the business of communication, practice I must; specifically because, as Gillian put it: “you owe it not just to yourself but to your company to work hard and give it everything you can. Sometimes, just showing up is important.”

I promise to myself and to my company to start blogging at least once a week and increase the frequency gradually.

And since this is a meta-blog (a blog about blogging), it seems befitting to end with another blogger quote, Girish Shahane:

Film used to be a precious resource in India, to be used with care. This bred discipline among cinematographers. Once video became widely available, discipline often went out of the window. [...] I have this example before me as I inaugurate a blog -- which is free to publish and in which I can stuff endless random thoughts. I aim to bring some of [the] discipline into the inevitably looser, less formal structure of the blog.

Wish me luck. :)

Nimit Kathuria

Team OMLogic

Post a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

6333 comments

  • Author Images
    Jerryacemn
    6 days ago

    Инновационные профили Мелке https://oknagarant.ru/catalog/gotovye-plastikovye-okna/profil-vekaspwhs/material-pvh/page-4 Площадь остекления 3500 м? 1 https://oknagarant.ru/products/moskitnaya-setka-850x1600mm-standart Особенности эксплуатации https://oknagarant.ru/catalog/moskitnye-setki/filter-discounted/shirina-800spmm Деревянные окна для дачи сейчас — довольно востребованная продукция https://oknagarant.ru/products/moskitnaya-setka-850x1150mm-antipyltsa Она отвечает тем критериям, к которым привыкли пользователи садовых участков: простота, низкая цена и природная эстетичность https://oknagarant.ru/catalog/moskitnye-setki/shirina-800spmm/vysota-1400spmm Специалисты до сих пор интересуются, почему же собственники таких строений не стремятся их обустраивать за счет продукции из ПВХ? Оставить заявку https://oknagarant.ru/catalog/gotovye-plastikovye-okna/profil-melke/vysota-900spmm Все наши профили армируются МАКСИМАЛЬНО — с 4-х сторон и обязательно с 4-мя ребрами жесткости https://oknagarant.ru/products/moskitnaya-setka-650x1050mm-antipyltsa

  • Author Images
    Williampreal
    6 days ago

    Быстрый просмотр https://stoteh.ru/gidromotor-shimadzu-a25 Быстрый просмотр https://stoteh.ru/kanglim-ks1256 ГАК для манипулятора https://stoteh.ru/gidrocilindri-teleskopirovania-strel Основные группы запчастей https://stoteh.ru/gidronasos-aber Цена: 34 900 руб https://stoteh.ru/gidromotor-uchida-a10fl25 ООО "Спецгидравлика-МСК" предлагает оригинальный гидромотор лебедки на кран-манипулятор DONG YANG каталожный номер S306221A https://stoteh.ru/gidromotor-capm25

  • Author Images
    JosephPeall
    6 days ago

    Руководитель ООО «ТМ Декор» • Месторасположение строительной площадки и геолокация; Наименование Цена монтажа 1 тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/izgotovlenie-i-montazh-metallokonstrukczij одноэтажного здания Цена монтажа 1 тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/rekonstrukcziya-i-restavracziya-zdanij-i-sooruzhenij многоэтажного здания Высотой до 15м Высотой до 24м Высотой до 15м Высотой до 24м Высотой от 24м Колонны от 25 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/moshhenie-granitnoe от 27 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/collaboration от 26 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/rekonstrukcziya-i-restavracziya-zdanij-i-sooruzhenij от 30 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/sovremennyij-dom от 36 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/contacts Балки от 25 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/zdanie-gorodskoj-administraczii от 27 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/ от 26 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/sovremennyij-dom от 30 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/cookie-policy от 36 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/collaboration Фермы от 27 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/kupol-park-zaryade от 29 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/stroitelno-montazhnyie-rabotyi-po-inzhenernyim-setyam от 28 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/sovremennyij-dom от 31 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/cookie-policy от 39 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/cookie-policy Связи от 29 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/ от 31 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/stroitelno-montazhnyie-rabotyi-po-inzhenernyim-setyam от 30 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/collaboration от 32 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/moshhenie-granitnoe от 39 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/pamyatnik-rabochij-i-kolxoznicza Прогоны от 29 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/pamyatnik-rabochij-i-kolxoznicza от 31 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/ от 30 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/collaboration от 32 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/rekonstrukcziya-i-restavracziya-zdanij-i-sooruzhenij от 39 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/ Вспомогательные конструкции: (лестницы, площадки обслуживания ограждения и https://ssm-company.ru/projects/pamyatnik-vladimiru-velikomu тд.) от 32 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/kupol-park-zaryade от 33 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/ от 32 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/pamyatnik-rabochij-i-kolxoznicza от 33 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/projects/pamyatnik-rabochij-i-kolxoznicza от 34 000 руб/тн https://ssm-company.ru/contacts Демонтаж металлических конструкций каркасов зданий от 20 000 руб./тн https://ssm-company.ru/services/izgotovlenie-i-montazh-metallokonstrukczij А Наше проектное бюро может осуществить проектирование необходимого здания по запросу заказчика https://ssm-company.ru/projects/ Узнать цену на монтаж металлоконструкций за 1 тонну и сроки монтажных работ можно по телефону в Тамбове +7 (4752) 64-11-77 // в Москве +7 (495) 235-80-50, либо воспользовавшись формой обратной связи на нашем сайте https://ssm-company.ru/services/moshhenie-granitnoe Срок и стоимость зависят от сложности и объёмов (тоннажа) возводимых конструкций https://ssm-company.ru/projects/zdanie-gorodskoj-administraczii Цены на монтаж высотных металлоконструкций и быстровозводимых зданий и сооружений на заказ https://ssm-company.ru/about

  • Author Images
    WilliamTon
    6 days ago

    Isotretinoin http://pharmwithoutadoctorsprescription.com/ Buy levitra online

  • Author Images
    TerrellFlops
    6 days ago

    © 2008-2024 ООО — продажа складского оборудования https://stellazhtorg.com/po-tipu-pomescheniya/dlya-garderobnoj/stellazh-metallicheskij-dlya-garderoba1 Информация на сайте, касающаяся технических характеристик и стоимости товаров, носит информационный характер и не является публичной офертой, определяемой положениями Статьи 437(2) Гражданского кодекса РФ https://stellazhtorg.com/stellazhi-srednegruzovie/ Арт https://stellazhtorg.com/archivnye-polki/ Артикул 65-5011 https://stellazhtorg.com/po-predmetu-hraneniya/dlya-koles/stellazhi-dlya-koles Артикул: СТ 15103 https://stellazhtorg.com/polochnye-stellazhi/stellazh-arhivnyj51 оборудование архивного помещения https://stellazhtorg.com/stellazhi-srednegruzovie/sredne-gruzovye-stellazhi-sg/stellazh-dop-58 Грузоподъемность, кг 3000 Размер платформы (ДхШ), мм 2000x1250 https://stellazhtorg.com/stellazhi-srednegruzovie/srednegruzovye-stellazhi-sgr/stellazh-sgr-17 Металлические сборные стеллажи являются необычайно удобным, выгодным и долговечным решением задачи или заставить всю стену в линию https://stellazhtorg.com/po-predmetu-hraneniya/dlya-koles/ Для склада или больших залов Вы найдете модели с большей грузоподъемностью, включая паллетные стеллажи https://stellazhtorg.com/stellazhi-srednegruzovie/sredne-gruzovye-stellazhi-sg/stellazh-sg-dop-sekciya-54