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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Our Environment Influences the level of our Growth

I’ve finally finished the book ‘Ouliers’ by Malcom Gladwell! Hmmm…actually I finished reading it many weeks ago…but can’t find the time to share…haha! Above is the photo of Malcom Gladwell. (ok...i know his hair-do is UNIQUE....stop laughing!)

‘Outliers’ simply means men and women who do things out of the ordinary. Many people (in fact most) will attribute success to individual effort, meaning success is solely on whether the person is good enough. (E.g. how intelligent are you, how talented are you, what in-born gifts you have, etc)

But the truth is, nobody becomes successful by themselves. Phil Pringle said that only 10% of what we need for success is in us; the other 90% is in the people around us.

How true? Well, I believe that’s very true. (DUH) People don’t rise from nothing. Where they came from, how they were raised, what culture they lived in, what opportunities they were exposed to, all these factors play an important part in their success.

Take the forest as an example. The tallest tree didn’t become the tallest just because it came from the hardiest seed; it is the tallest also because no other trees blocked its sunlight, the soil around it was rich and fertile, no insect or animal came and chew through its bark when it was still a sapling, and no lumberjack chop it down in its process of growth. Successful people came from hardy seeds, but the sunlight that warms them, the soil that enriched them, we have to admit, that these play a part in their success, right?

Agree?

Success is about opportunity. In his book, Malcom Gladwell mentioned the example of Canadian hockey team. Most of the elite or top-performing players were born between January and April. (17 out of 25 players) Why? ‘Cause the cutoff date for age-class hockey is January 1^st. So, a boy who turns 10 yrs old on January 3^rd, will be playing with a boy who may only turns 10 yrs old in December. At such young age, the 12 months gap in age does make a huge difference in terms of physical maturity. The boy born in January definitely has an advantage.

In English soccer, the cutoff date is September 1^st. At one point in the 1990s, 288 players were born between September and November, and only136 players were born between June and August. Cool statistics huh? Numbers do tell stories!

I mean, we can’t control opportunities. Imagine if the cutoff dates were changed. People born closer to the cut of date will then have greater advantages. And those players who were termed “not as good”, maybe they will take the place of the current elite players? But again, not every player born in January will end up being an elite player. This is when innate talent becomes important.

But success is not only opportunity and talent. It is also hard work and practice! The environment we were placed in meant a great deal too! Malcom Gladwell also introduced the “10, 000 hour rule”. To be successful in your field, you got to have to clock 10, 000 hours of practice. Bill Joy did programming for 10, 000 hours. Bill Gates did the same. Mozart was composing for 10 years before he produced a masterwork.

The Beatles (you should have heard of them…if you have not…errr….i suspect you are lost on earth) was one of the most famous rock bands ever. The Beatles went the America in February of 1964, and they started to put up a string of records that changed the face of popular music. By that time, The Beatles have been playing as a band for 10 years.

But The Beatles was still a struggling high school rock band, until they got invited to play in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960. The making of The Beatles started there. In Hamburg, they were forced to play for long hours: 8 hours a day, 7 days a week.

By the time they became famous in 1964, The Beatles have been performing live for an estimated of 1200 times!!!! (WOW) If they haven't been placed in that environment, where they were sort of 'forced' to play long hours, they wouldn't have hit the 10,000 hours mark.

To conclude: Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good; it is the thing you do that makes you good.

And our environment

After reading this book, i am so thankful that i joined church at a young age of 13. Really eternally grateful to God. If i came to church much later, i would not have gathered that much experiences, and became who i am today.

If i wasn't in church, nobody will encourage me to be better in life; nobody will believe in me; nobody would have notice my potential, and draw them out. No one would have taught me to work hard for my dreams, give my best in my studies, and ave great attitude in life. Given my character and personality back then when i was 13, i think i'll never amount to anything good. I was insecure, fearful, and lack confidence in myself. I was angry with life itself, and confused about my circumstances.

Being in church is like...i'm given another chance to live again. =) A chance to be in an environment that ultimately change my direction in life, and my perspective about things and people. Our environment indeed influences the level of our growth.

Since we already know (through reading this book) the ingredients to success, really felt that should work hard at our gifts and talents, place ourselves in the right environment, and recognize opportunity when it comes (of course to seize the opportunity too!).

At the end of it all, we may not be famous and earn as much as Bill Gates. But, we must never lose the desire to be successful in our own realm. To be successful, is to be the best we can be. We can earn a billion but have a terrible marriage. I seriously don't think that is success...right? =)

In 2010, i really aspire to be all i can be! =)

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