It’s All in Your Head: The 10,000 hour rule

I dig Malcolm Gladwell, and not just because we appear to have the same post-workout hair stylist. Mr. Gladwell popularized the idea that 10,000 hours of practice can equal expertise in a given endeavor.

It occurred to me that learning and living the Meltdown lifestyle - a different way of eating than most of us have been practicing before we walk in the doors of NGPT, is no less a skill to be honed through repetition.

Since we’re really talking about fighting each day the orthodoxy of food (bad for you) and movement (none or far too little) that is a way of life for many Americans, consider that 10,000 hours, if divided into awake days of 16 hours = 625 days, or about 89 weeks, or 1.7 years before we might consider that “expertise” has been achieved. (SOMEBODY out there is checking my math even as you read this!) 😉

Unreasonable? Not really given the average client is well into her 30’s when she walks in the door (I ventured in at 39, and not coincidentally as that sometimes-culturally scary number loomed.) 39 years - or even 21 if we’re counting just the adult ones - of ingrained habits surrounding one of the most basic functions of our survival. Color us not surprised that relapse is a common part of finding our way to long-term success,

This is all on my mind as we ready to graduate our 27th Meltdown bootcamp, and are on day 3 of our 28th.

As we ready to send our barely-minted veterans out into the world with a scant 896 hours under their belts, like a worried Mother Hen, I fret - will they be ok? Will they remember what we taught them? This is not meant to be disconcerting - rather an encouragement that if we stumble, that’s okay, and it’s only important that we get right back up.

Please know that we continue to be here for you after that magic 56th day - no one expects perfection, but we’ve come too far to quit now :).

All the best,

Marcey

Coach Marcey Tidwell started as a client with NGPT in January 2011. Joining the team as an accountability coach, she wears many hats in assisting the Meltdown Nation! Nurse Marcey by day, she brings a wealth of knowledge the program! She knows first-hand that persistent and focused effort can often make up for an egregious lack of natural talent.