Writing, Among Other Things

Category: Inspiration (Page 5 of 6)

Are the days of the 10,000 hour rule over?

sign-success-and-failure-1133804-mRecently, I came across a few articles that suggested that the 10,000 hour rule, made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his 2008 book, Outliers, was no rule at all. You can read some of these articles here, here, and here.

The 10,000 hour rule gained immense popularity because the idea seemed to make sense, and it gave hope to many who wanted to become an expert in any field. I was no exception, and this idea that practicing something for more than 10,000 hours can make me an expert in a field appealed to me. So, when I read these articles destroying the 10,000 hour rule, I decided to dig deeper into the matter.

But, let’s take it one step at a time.

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Five Steps to Stick to Your Resolutions

ticked-checkbox-1280927-mThe first few days of 2014 are gone. The next few days are going to be testing times for your new year resolutions. Most people will forget their resolutions just about this time, and start waiting for the next year to form new resolutions, which they are definitely going to keep.

Here are five steps that may help you avoid becoming one of those people.

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They Also Serve Who Only Stand And Wait

galaxy-nebula-1381187-mRecently, I was in a discussion with a friend about what difference can one human make in the larger scheme of things. When we were talking about large, we were talking about universe large. We concluded by deciding that one human was too small an entity to make any difference to the universe.

But when I got home, I got thinking again, and I realised that we had got it all wrong.

One human, any human, can make a huge difference in determining his, or her, own fate, the fate of the world, and perhaps even the fate of the universe.

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Five Life Lessons from Riding a Mountain Bike

biking-723599-mI had wanted to buy a mountain bike for a few years now. With every passing year, the desire to buy a mountain bike was getting stronger, as was the realisation that I was not getting any younger. In a few years, even if I did buy a mountain bike I would not be able to make the best use of it. So, a few months back, after giving it a lot of thought, I bought a mountain bike. Here, I am going to share a few life lessons that I have learnt while riding my bike.

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10 Great Opening Lines from Novels

archivum--old-library-1170825-mThe opening line is an important part of the novel. Though a novel is much more than the opening line – just like a house is much more than the gate – yet it can be a crucial factor in making the reader decide to go ahead and read the book. Stephen King says, “an opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.

Here, I have compiled a list of 10 great opening lines from novels, in no particular order, along with my reasons for liking them.

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