Malcolm Gladwell. J. Cole. Michael Jordan. One is a New York Times bestselling author with works such as “The Outliers,” “David and Goliath” and “The Tipping Point.” One is a Grammy-nominated rapper with albums “Cole World: The Sideline Story” and “Born Sinner.” The last one is the greatest basketball player of all time, with six NBA championships, five MVPs and six NBA Finals MVP awards. All three of these accomplished men believe in the same concept: hard work. I will share the thoughts on hard work of these men as we begin to prepare for final exams.
In Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Outliers,” he writes about the concept of practicing 10,000 hours at any given task before becoming an expert at it. Gladwell writes about the 10,000 hours Bill Gates spent on the computer. He writes about the 10,000 hours of practice by the Beatles. Obviously, Gates and the Beatles are “outliers” in their success, but the principle that made them successes remains the same — there is no substitute for hard work.
I am cognizant of the fact that we do not have 10,000 hours to study for college coursework, but imagine how much better your grades could be if you maximized the amount of free time some of us have available. (I understand that some people have to work to pay for their education, which severely diminishes the amount of free time they have to study.)
Moving on, let us examine what rapper J. Cole has to say about hard work. I cannot directly cite the lyrics, but Cole essentially claims that if one would put into a craft the same amount of energy spent chasing the opposite sex, one would be “famous and rich.” It goes without saying that reallocating the time spent chasing the opposite sex to studying geology will not necessarily make you rich. But if that’s what you took away from that line, you missed the point.
Cole is simply suggesting that individuals should focus on bettering their craft, whatever that may be, instead of wasting time chasing girls or guys. I believe Cole’s message is one that is particularly relevant on college campuses. As I am writing this, I reflect on the many times I have wasted time trying to impress some cute girl on the phone at night instead of hitting the books.
Finally, what does the G.O.A.T. have to say about hard work? Michael Jordan once famously said, “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.” This is self-explanatory. If you want to be successful in anything, you have to put in the work to do so. As we finish up this week and head off for Thanksgiving break, I ask that each of you reflect on these words about hard work.
Tim Abram is a senior public policy leadership major from Horn Lake.
— Tim Abram
toabram@go.olemiss.edu
