10,000 Hours

In Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell explained extraordinarily successful people are not geniuses. They are talented and smart enough for sure, but before they reached the level of extraordinary success, they worked long and hard to get there, and the time it usually takes is approximately 10,000 hours or about 20 hours/wk for 10 years.

This week I heard two regional real estate moguls speak and realized that they too put in their 10,000 hours when they were young to get to where they are today. I was so inspired by both of them that I feel compelled to share.

One of them owns and manages over 50 retail shopping centers in the D.C. region. He purchased his very first when he was only 34. Prior to that, he spent about 10 years building homes and managing a commercial real estate company. While he was not in retail real estate, he learned some very critical skills in construction, finance and built a nice network of relationships that by the time his 10,000 hours were up, he was ready. He continues to work 7 days a week and loves what he does.

The other started his career as a landscaper and ran that business for about 15 years. For the last 10 years or so, he's gone on to start one of the largest site work companies in the region, a very successful landscape maintenance company and several others. He also successfully entitled 900+ homes in the last few years.

Both of them love to give back not just financially but also by sharing their experience and knowledge with young people. Neither of them started out knowing what they were going to do "when they grew up". They both spent years toiling away in fields they landed somewhat by circumstances, they learned as much as they can along the way, so, when their 10,000 hours were up, they were ready. All I can say is when I grow up, I want to be just like them.

I am not sure where I am in that 10,000 hours but I have a feeling that I have a few thousand under my belt. I think if you are passionate about something, you eat, drink and breath it and you can't help but work hard and long because when you love something, the work becomes a hobby and when you are enjoying yourself, time flies. Real estate is my passion and I can't wait to see where God takes me with it. I just need to learn as much as I can along the way and jump when I am there!