There is a theory made famous by Malcom Gladwell that to master anything you need to put in 10,000 hours. Want to be a better golfer? That’ll be 10,000 hours of practice. Want to be a better cook? That’ll be 10,000 hours. Want to be a better lover? Well, you get the picture. The research that led to this discovery was rather limited. It was conducted using the average practice of violinists, which frankly doesn’t correlate with everything one might want to master.

A better idea proposed by podcaster, author, financial expert, comedian and who knows what else James Altucher is the the 10,000 experiments rule. No. You don’t have to conduct exactly 10,000 experiments, but that’s not the point. The point is you should always be trying new things and new ideas.

Remember the episode of Seinfeld where George decides to do the opposite of everything he normally would? This is an example. Want to be a better communicator? Develop an experiment for yourself. It needs to meet 5 basic criteria:

1. It’s easy

2. It’s low risk

3. its potential is huge

4. it hasn’t been done before

5. No matter what you will learn something

I think #5 is the most underrated reason of all. So often we try things in life that don’t work out and just shelve it as a failure. That’s very shortsighted. As long as something was learned there’s value there.

What experiment could you perform to become a better communicator? Let’s see. Maybe you could offer to speak at your Rotary Club. “But Jason, one of the criteria is it has never been done before.” Has it been done by You? Well there ya go. There’s your experiment. See how you do. See how it goes.

Back to James Altucher..he had wanted to do standup for many years. He didn’t want to wait to do an open mic. He wanted to be in front of a live potentially hostile audience. Where did he find one? He turned a New York subway car into a comedy club for a short period. He stood up and started doing standup. Wow! That takes guts. Or does it? What’s the worst that could have happened? People don’t laugh? Ok, then try new material next time. People do laugh? Wow! You made an un-expecting audience on a subway car laugh. That joke must be gold. Best of all the next time he does it subway or club it will be little easier.

The point is this..don’t worry so much about doing one thing for years and years and years UNLESS you have determined that is in fact your thing and mastery is the key to your success. If you haven’t, then learn to set yourself up as a personal scientist doing experiments on yourself. You will be amazed at what you will discover including your added confidence.

You rule!

Jason