10,000 hours of practice is not enough. There are 4 additional criteria that must be met.
Most people think expertise comes from talent or from spending enough hours at something. But research — and lived experience — show it’s more nuanced. Four ingredients keep showing up when we study how someone really masters a skill.
https://youtu.be/5eW6Eagr9XA?t=957
Many Repeated Attempts with Feedback
You can’t just “do it a lot” and expect improvement. The loop of trying, receiving feedback, and trying again is what transforms effort into growth. Without that loop, you can repeat the same mistakes forever.
A Valid Environment
The space in which you practice matters. It needs to be structured enough that you can see patterns, apply techniques, and notice cause-and-effect. A chaotic or inconsistent environment makes progress scattershot, while a stable one accelerates learning.
Timely Feedback
The speed of feedback is critical. If it comes too late, the connection between action and result is lost. When feedback comes right after the attempt, you can immediately refine and lock in what worked.
Deliberate Practice
True growth happens at the edge of your ability — not in the comfort zone, and not in overwhelming territory either. That means carefully chosen challenges that push you just beyond what feels easy.
When these four elements line up, progress compounds fast. What’s interesting is how rarely people create these conditions for themselves. Most drift into unstructured practice, slow feedback, and habits that plateau. But when someone ensures the environment is right, feedback comes at the right time, and practice is deliberate, the difference in outcomes is staggering.