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Why 3 Books Can be as Valuable as 10,000 Hours
You may only be 3 Books Away from Mastering any Subject
10,000 Hours
Much has been made of needing 10,000 hours of practice in a subject in order to truly master it.
10,000 is a lot, right? That seems like way more than you actually need. Sure, it might make sense if you want to become truly professional at a given skill. But what if you're just looking for a certain level of proficiency?
My counterargument to the 10,000-hour rule is the 3-book rule.
I truly believe that you're just 3 books away from mastering any topic.
Think of any topic that you're curious about. The French Revolution, Disco music, Walt Disney, whatever you can think of. It can be a concept, a time period, a person, whatever.
If you set aside the time to read 3 books about that subject, you'll quickly bolt into the top tier of people with knowledge on the subject. Most people don't read many books, let alone 3 books on the same subject. If you're serious about learning any given topic, this is a fantastic approach to get the perspective you need.
Why 3 books? Why isn't 1 enough? Why not 5 or 10?
