While you are studying at university, you are there to perfect a skill or multiple skills through tutoring, attending seminars/workshops/etc. and coursework or self-disciplined learning. This is incredibly exciting as you are choosing the skill (or skills) that you will work with for the rest of your career.

How long does it truly take to master a skill?

A little fun trivia this Friday, as we all know – the saying goes “Practice makes perfect” – but is that so?

Research shows that it takes ten thousand (10,000) hours to master a skill!

TEN THOUSAND HOURS!!

Now, don’t let that put you off, it’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s another saying that goes around too, “If you love your job, you never work a day of your life”.

This means that choosing your university course and campus is incredibly important.

Yes, choosing something you are pretty good at already is a safe way to go, but what about what you really enjoy?

Can you turn that particular skill/hobby/interest into a career?

Why not find out how to train for your dream job at the perfect university by booking your First Call  today with one of our University Experts?

First let’s diver further into the research – apparently it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill which is equivalent to 9 years (consider 5 days a week spending 4 hours each day). This sounds like a very long time but that’s because it is spread out over such a long time, taking breaks between learning, and practicing.

There are 4 stages of learning, novice, apprentice, journeyman, and master. In more detail these define as:

The Novice: at this point the person attempting to master the skill is unconsciously incompetent, meaning they don’t know what they don’t know, a stage of ignorance and the beginning stage of learning and mastering a skill.

The Apprentice: as you progress you are exposed to new concepts and skills and realise your personal limitations, however you are now committed to learning and mastering this skill and will stick with it through the next stages.

The journeyman: now the real work begins! This is where the famous quote “Practice makes perfect!” comes in. This stage requires the good, the bad, and the ugly as you master this skill you will experience mistakes and failure but these are all learning curves and absolutely not a reason to give up – but to carry on!

The Master: eventually, as with any skill, technique or craft, there will come a time where you are unconsciously competent. Almost as though it takes no thought at all to complete the skill you have been learning.

The 10,000 hours: sometimes learning a new skill can take a day, a week, months or years. But to truly master it, that is where the 10,000 hours come in. You may quickly become unconsciously competent but to truly master the skill takes much longer beyond the point where you are competent.

Our final cliché quote is “Every day is a school day”.

Once you have mastered a skill there is always time and space to keep learning.

Before you go, perhaps you need some guidance on applying for university, we have a number of webinars you can access already and more to come by SUBSCRIBING to UNI-ASSIST HUB via this link, you will find all the information you need or you can make an enquiry by emailing us at consultants@independenteducationconsultants.co.uk.