A rule of thumb says that a grandmaster of chess – or the equivalent in any other venue – has put in at least ten thousand hours of practice.
And by “practice” we mean “relentless pounding on the invisible wall of your comfort zone.”

Psychologist Anders Ericsson did the research that gave us the 10000 hours rule, although others have popularized it in books. Much of the “evidence” is anecdotal, admittedly. But you know why? Because most people don’t put 10,000 hours into anything except their work, if that, and in that case rarely with enthusiasm and relentless dedication. Most jobs probably don’t even allow you to challenge yourself that way for 40 hours a week, five years, as it would take at that speed. And even if they did, most workers would rather quit, if they could get away with it, than exert themselves like that for a company they didn’t own.

At my own workplace, we get reorganized more often than every 5 years, although there is some continuity, so that is not my excuse. I just suck at organizing my own research when it comes to something as unpredictable as humans and the way they use hardware and software. The hardware and software is the easy part, of course. “Everything in the world fits together, except humans.”

One of the more famous examples was the guy who decided to put his three daughters through this level of relentless chess training while they grew up, to see whether they really would become expert chess players. All of them did. In all fairness, so was their father. But there is not a 100% chance of the next generation inheriting the chess mastery, or even a 33% chance. And whatever chance there is, usually only applies to the sons. Chess is still a male-dominated mind sport, and certainly was when the girls were small. Of course, if they had had no talent whatsoever, they might have run away from home or worse. I am not sure how ethical it is to be the destiny of your children in such a way, I find it creepy. That said, girls could do worse than play chess.

Not limited to chess and playing instruments (the most common examples), the 10,000 hour rule also applies to sports. Although in this case the life phase probably matters a lot, regardless of whether talent does. Skill sports you can get started on early, but strength and endurance sports are not for small kids, so your window of opportunity is narrower. Old age is not a great time to take up sports either, although it actually seems OK for running. There are several examples of men taking up running at the age of gray hairs and doing pretty well, running marathon long after retirement even if not winning.

Whatever thoughts I had about doing this, it definitely won’t happen today. Today my health is well below average (whining in my personal journal) and even my appetite is shot. But I have other interests as well. After all, one of my slogans is “surpassing numerous destinies while one is alive”. My higher aspiration may be to become a grandmaster of esoteric wisdom. But a more cynical observer may think I am closer to becoming a master of playing The Sims 3. ^_^