Am I the only one wondering why almost everyone asking HN questions gets downvoted every da*n time ?
Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
61–70 of 305 posts
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#62So lets say you plan to retire in 22 years. An 18-year-old starting college will be 40 in 22 years. I would say you have plenty of time so don't waste it.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#631) The first bit of advice is to recognize that you, like almost everyone else who discusses "the 10,000 hour rule" (and what it means regarding "practice" and "mastery") have completely failed to understand what the actual author meant, so you do yourself and everyone else a favor by dropping the subject. 2) The second bit of advice is to examine this "reality" thing. You can, obviously, switch careers anytime you w…
Thanks for your feedback. Because i'm a disabled person and financial recession is coming so i am very careful to switch career.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#64Even if we just accept it at face value... 10K hours to be an expert does not mean 10K to make a career change. It means 10K to be the top of your field. So it is really up to you - can you handle being a junior level team member for a few years? If so, switch and do what makes you happy. But if being the expert at the top of the field is more important to you, then do not switch.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#65I know this is just one person who was in a different time and under different circumstances, but I've found it inspirational to put age into perspective. Grace Hopper first entered computing at age 38, completed the first compiler at age 46, influenced the design of COBOL at age 53, wrote COBOL for the Navy through her 70s, retired from the Navy aged 80 and only then became a consultant for DEC. So for me , at least…
Thanks for mentioning in this, which I hadn't seen before. I collect stories of successful aging because I am now 66 and hope to keep creating software, and ideas that can be implemented in it, for some time to come!
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#66Assuming you live a lucky, healthy, full life with access to healthcare, you can live until your 80s. You will have at least another 25 years left to work in good health. There are some physically demanding jobs that you won't qualify for, but aside from those you've got plenty of options as to what you can do in the next 25 years.
I think the real challenge is seeing a vast region of mountains ahead and mustering the willpower and focus necessary to traverse them. You have to want it and will it into reality. The journey begins with the next step.
The 10,000 hour is bunk, by the way. Not even Gladwell will defend it. It was an interesting story about peak performance, but not scientifically valid.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#67I'm 60.
I've probably done my most meaningful work, in the last 15 years. I feel that I learn more quickly -and better- than I ever did, when I was younger.
It's hard to get 10K hours into anything, these days, as tech is a moving target, but it's doable.
Being OCD (like me) is helpful.
These days, I specialize in Swift programming, for Apple devices. I'm really obsessive about it (My GH Activity Graph is solid green, and it's pretty much all Swift[0]). Even with writing Swift, every day (since the day it was announced), I feel as if I'm just barely keeping up.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#68Assuming you live a lucky, healthy, full life with access to healthcare, you can live until your 80s. You will have at least another 25 years left to work in good health. There are some physically demanding jobs that you won't qualify for, but aside from those you've got plenty of options as to what you can do in the next 25 years. I think the real challenge is seeing a vast region of mountains ahead and mustering th…
> The journey begins with the next step.
Am I reading a quote from The Stormlight Archive? Life before death, journey before destination.
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#69I think you first need to be honest with yourself about a few things, at least these: A) What does being a master really means to me? Others respect? Peer recognition? Work autonomy? B) Am I willing to change careers knowing I will never be a master in it? C) Does the trade-off of changing from a career that I master to a career that I will never master worth it? In your question there's already an implied NO, do not…
"mastery, it's always difficult to achieve it"
The better I get at programming, the further I feel to be from the 'mastery' (whatever it is).
Re: Ask HN: 10k hours rule to master anything. Could I switch career when I am 43?
#70No post body was provided.