It takes ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.” -Malcolm Gladwell, “Outliers
Beginning with a team of psychologists studying violinists of the Berlin orchestra through their practice habits, up to Bill Gates and his programming years into discovering Microsoft, best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell says “It takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field” in his book Outliers.
In order to achieve greatness in our professions, Malcolm Gladwell thoroughly demonstrates how it would take ten thousand years or more to reach that significant level of expertise that differentiates greatly from other industry players. There will be constant improvement and tons of road blocks on the road to success, that’s why it is quintessential for one to move forward and to keep on going and developing. No shortcuts. No naturals. All needed is greater and greater time spent practicing.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen were college dropouts who spent thousands of hours practicing programming before they found Microsoft. In 1968, both eighth graders quickly got addicted to programming as soon as their school purchased their first computer terminal. Both teenagers found themselves sneaking out of their parents’ homes to use the University’s computer with which they acquired their ten thousand hours. When they launched Microsoft in 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen were already more than prepared.
In 1960, an unknown high school rock band played in local clubs in Hamburg, Germany. They were underpaid and had unappreciative audiences, but their shows still went on. With non-stop hours of playing time, they were forced to just keep getting better and the audience began to demand more and more performances. By 1964, they became known internationally as the Beatles. In that time, they’ve played in over 1,200 concerts together and played more than eight hours per night, seven nights a week.
Because it is only through practice where improvement happens, more and more time must be invested nurturing a skill. Experts do not merely work harder than everyone else, they basically fall in love with their craft. They fall so much in love with practicing that they reach a point where they would not want to do anything else.
Fashion weeks all around the worlds are surrounded by a conglomerate of talent in all fields. From famous designers who’ve well established their names in the industry, to make up artists backstage who become no less important than the skilled workers and audience who fill the shows, these are individuals who nurture their craft, love it, and effortlessly continue to invest more time improving themselves.
CAVA, Center for Aesthetics and Visual Arts
In the Philippines, the Center for Aesthetic and Visual Arts provide a hub for aspiring and partitioning makeup artists to nurture their craft. Not only are their mentors highly skilled industry practitioners, their curriculum covers every aspect of learning to guide students apply theories in their practice.
Like the elite football player, the guy who spends all day on the practice field with his teammates, the makeup artists in fashion week spend countless hours perfecting their eye for makeup and manifest an effortless love and passion for their craft. Hazel Gonzales’ vision for the Center of Aesthetic and Visual Arts is to be that place that breeds these highly skilled makeup artists.
When it comes to the makeup in the Philippines, there’s no better way to go other than CAVA. The CAVA experience of airbrush leads the Philippine aesthetics through Hazel Gonzales’ passion for creating beautiful and captivating works of art. Through the Center for Aesthetics and Visual Arts, Hazel shares her expertise and gives students the opportunity to perfect their craft.
Continuous self-improvement whether it be learning to further specialize in makeup or to simply learn to effortlessly create beauty is what CAVA cultures and what is also a manifestation of what Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates in his book Outliers.
All of us want to be great at something and now, knowing how achievers and the great have gotten there, it’s time to put in this seconds, minutes, hours, months and even years. In any profession, it would take forty hours per week over five years to reach ten thousand hours. How many hours have you logged?
Recognize what it is you want to nurture and immerse in an environment that gives you the opportunity to continuously improve. Practice plays a major role in making significant contribution with any industry even in the midst of challenging economies. But above all, the best investment for your continuous self-improvement would be to go and begin logging in those hours!
CAVA is located at the 3rd Floor Victoria Towers Commercial Bldg., Timog Avenue, Quezon City Philippines with numbers +632 504 2282 and +63917 683 2282.
