The Talent Code一萬(wàn)小時(shí)天才理論

高凡依

One famous theory the scientists put forward is “10，000-Hour Rule”. The rule says that you need approximately1 10，000 hours of practice to become a world-class expert in a field. There is no other way. If you want to be a world-class expert in your field， you must do your 10，000 hours of practice. Then， where should you invest2 your 10，000 hours of practice？

科學(xué)家們提出了一個(gè)著名的“一萬(wàn)小時(shí)天才理論”，該理論稱：練習(xí)一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)，你就能成為某領(lǐng)域的世界級(jí)大師。別無(wú)他法，如果你想成功，那就必須得練一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)。那么，你要把這一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)花在哪兒呢？

This question is important because 10，000 hours is a lot of time. If you consistently3 practice 4 hours a day for 6 days a week， you will still need 8 years to get 10，000 hours. So answering this question is essential4. If you need to invest such a huge amount of time， youd better do it right. Youd better find your direction.

這個(gè)問題很重要，因?yàn)橐蝗f(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)是很長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間。如果你持續(xù)地每天練習(xí)4小時(shí)，每周練習(xí)6天，你仍需8年才能達(dá)到一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)的練習(xí)量。所以回答“要把一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)花在哪”這個(gè)問題就十分有必要了。如果真要付出這么多的時(shí)間，你最好謹(jǐn)慎回答，選擇最合適的方向。

To find your direction， I find the three questions below helpful. Answer them and you will have an idea of where you should go. Here they are：

為了能找到最合適的方向，我提出了下面的三個(gè)問題，如果能回答出來(lái)這些問題，你就能找到你的方向了。問題如下：

1. Where have you invested your time？

1. 你過去都把時(shí)間花在了哪里？

One way to know where to invest your time is simply to look at where you have invested your time. For example， in the last few years you might have learned how to play music for one or two hours a day. Or you might have blogged5 about a certain topic. Or you might have spent a lot of time on gardening. Those are good signs of where you should invest your 10，000 hours. You already invest part of that 10，000 hours so you only need to invest the rest. The difference is now you do it consciously6 and deliberately7. You will be more effective that way.

要想知道該在哪兒花時(shí)間，最簡(jiǎn)單的辦法就是回頭看看自己已經(jīng)在哪兒花了時(shí)間。比如說(shuō)，在過去的幾年里，你每天都會(huì)花一兩個(gè)小時(shí)來(lái)演奏音樂，或者在某個(gè)專題上發(fā)表文章，又或者在園藝上花費(fèi)了大量的時(shí)間。這些都能很好地說(shuō)明你應(yīng)該在哪些方面來(lái)完成這一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)的時(shí)間。你已經(jīng)完成了一萬(wàn)小時(shí)的一部分，那么你只需要投入剩下的那部分了。不同的是，你現(xiàn)在是有意識(shí)地、特意地把時(shí)間用在某個(gè)領(lǐng)域上，如此收效更佳。

2. What are your passions？

2. 你最感興趣的是什么？

In fact， thats one reason why 10，000 hours is a magic8 number to become a world-class expert. Almost everyone else fails before reaching that point. Only a few people can reach the 10，000 hours mark and thats why they become world class.

實(shí)際上，這就是“一萬(wàn)小時(shí)天才理論”的奧妙，幾乎所有人都在達(dá)成目標(biāo)前就放棄了。只有一小部分人可以堅(jiān)持一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)，而他們就成了世界級(jí)的高手。

To help you reach the 10，000 hours mark， doing something you love is really helpful. It will help you go through difficult times. It will help you overcome boredom9. Without it， the 10，000 hours will be like a painful journey. Its highly unlikely that you will ever reach the 10，000 hours mark that way.

做自己感興趣的事，對(duì)你完成“一萬(wàn)小時(shí)”的任務(wù)十分有利。它可以幫助你渡過難關(guān)，克服無(wú)趣。如果對(duì)所做的事毫無(wú)興趣，那么堅(jiān)持一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)就是一段痛苦不堪的長(zhǎng)途跋涉，很有可能你在到達(dá)終點(diǎn)前就已經(jīng)放棄了。

3. What opportunities does the age give you？

3. 你所處的時(shí)代賦予了你什么？

Ask yourself： what opportunities does your birth date give you？ What opportunities does the history give you at this point in time？

問問自己：你出生的時(shí)代給了你什么機(jī)遇？現(xiàn)在的社會(huì)環(huán)境又給你創(chuàng)造了什么機(jī)遇？

Answering these questions is not easy because its difficult to see whether or not something will be hot. When Bill Gates did his 10，000 hours of practice to learn programming， he might not know that it would eventually10 put him in a perfect position to be a software mogul11. Anyway， the most important thing is that， you need to have faith in something and believe that the dots will eventually connect.

回答這些問題并不容易，因?yàn)楹茈y預(yù)見哪些事物會(huì)成為時(shí)代的選擇。當(dāng)比爾·蓋茨把他的一萬(wàn)個(gè)小時(shí)用于學(xué)習(xí)編程的時(shí)候，他可能根本不知道最終自己會(huì)因此而成為軟件業(yè)巨頭。無(wú)論如何，最重要的是，你要堅(jiān)定自己的選擇，并相信，涓涓細(xì)流，必成江海。

[1] approximately adv. 大約，近似地；近于 [2] invest vt. 投資；耗費(fèi)

[3] consistently adv. 一貫地；一致地；堅(jiān)實(shí)地 [4] essential adj. 基本的；必要的

[5] blog n. 博客 v. 寫博客 [6] consciously adv. 自覺地；有意識(shí)地

[7] deliberately adv. 故意地；謹(jǐn)慎地；慎重地 [8] magic adj. 不可思議的；有魔力的；魔術(shù)的

[9] boredom n. 厭倦 [10] eventually adv. 最后，終于

[11] mogul n. 有權(quán)勢(shì)的人；顯要人物