Now

First of all, Happy New Year. I hope that it is a healthy, happy and prosperous one for you and yours.

Kung fu is defined as a skill that is developed over a long period of practice.

I notice that with the new year, that there is a resurgence of the "10,000 hour" meme. Malcolm Gladwell, in his outstanding book Outliers, notes a common trait among people who are at the top of their profession - they've practiced a lot. I mean a LOT. Like acquiring over 10,000 hours of practice and performance over their careers.

If you're like me, when you read this you start coming up with complex training schemes in order to accumulate 10,000 hours of practice in the shortest amount of calendar time. Then when the Universe reminds you that you are not in as much control as you think, you become frustrated.

I think the emphasis on 10,000 is worth noting, but is misplaced. What goes into those 10,000 hours is what matters.

For 2012, I'm not going to think about acquiring 10,000 hours of practice. I will think about today. This practice session. This repetition. Now.

If I practice one continuous Now, the 10,000 hours will take care of themselves.