Malcolm Gladwell, writer of Outliers and other best sellers, popularized the idea that 10,000 hours of practice was "the magic number of greatness". He explained that, regardless of a person's natural aptitude, anyone could achieve a level of proficiency that would rival that of a professional with enough practice. It was just a matter of putting in the time. More specifically, about 90-minutes-a-day-for-20-years kind of time.

However, this idea has been debunked over and over again, since quantity is not quality. Some "experts" practice much less than 10 thousand hours, while others practice for over 25 thousand to achieve the same results. Even then, I still think it is an interesting measure of practice.

Spending ten thousand hours on a skill shows not only you are willing to put in the time and work to learn something, but also shows you are passionate about it - try spending 10,000 hours on something you hate and get back to me.

So, I have the goal of achieving 10,000 hours of software practice and learning before I graduate university, and below you can see my progress.

1,560 hours completed
8,440 hours left