In my early career I worked for one of Australia's biggest corporations.
Which means I’ve had my fair share of frustrating situations.
But one of my first ever bosses telling me there was nothing I could do to improve my performance except “spend more time on the job” has to be riiiiight up there.
Give me a list of actions, tear apart my decisions, red pen strikethrough my work!
But don’t tell me there’s nothing I can do except wait for time to pass.
The worst part? She was (kinda) right.
According to Malcolm Gladwell it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something.
The 10,000 hour theory has since been debunked, but it’s still true that doing a lot of a thing will almost certainly make you better at that thing.
I spent six years in that first company and another five in my government comms role. And I got real good at my job.
I’ve now spent another 7 years running this freelance business of mine— building on my skills and putting everything I’ve learnt about language, writing, communication and people into practice.
I’m not good with numbers, but I do know that’s a whole lot of hours.
And I’m now at a point in my writing career where I have great creative instincts and a nose for a good story.
Which is fortunate, because I also have an impulsive personality so I tend to make quick decisions and rely on my instincts to steer me in the right direction (but that’s a story for another day).
I’m at the point in my career where I can take Lt Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s advice.
