“…t it also matters how you spend those hours” reminds me of the old saying (okay, old to me anyway), “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

Spend the hours, but spend them properly to attain your goal.

@Jason There’s a lot of truth in that post. Thanks. Although I do believe in talent, there’s almost always a way to gain expertise through dedication and hard work. We just have to decide what it is that we want to pursue, and allocate our time accordingly.

@Christopher Kabamba You’re right, it actually is pretty simple Installing Linux is the first step. Next we just need long-term commitment to keep ourselves immersed in the Linux world.

@Daniel O’Connor That is an interesting question. I’ve started to believe that the more proficient we get, the less we have to use our brains. We become one with the skill, so to speak (it’s a cliché, I know).

@Srinivas Rao Gladwell has some amazing statistics on skills. While some of the conclusions in Outliers can sound rather discouraging, they communicate that mastery doesn’t happen overnight, or after an intensive weekend seminar, as some would expect.

Thank you for the constructive feedback, everyone!

Great points.
Discipline is freedom. Make a thousand cuts to begin to know your blade. Build you mind/body/spirit connections.

While watching Avatar (I liked it by the way) I wondered-
Would that really work? Is our skill more than what resides in our brain? Is our mind only our brain our is it in every cell of our body and the brain is only the facilitator?

My opinion-No it would not work. Put a champion figure skaters brain in a body perfectly made for skating and he would fall on the ice. He would have to learn again.

Good Job

I love your teacher’s advice on how one can learn how to properly use Linux: “install it on your computer and start using it.”

It can’t get any simpler can it? I wonder why we don’t get it… Obsession to quick-fixes i think…

Thanks for your post.

http://bit.ly/ctWC

Most people realize you have to put the hours in, but it also matters how you spend those hours:

“That dedication to mastery drives the potential expert to focus on the most subtle aspects of performance, and to never be satisfied. There is always more to improve on, and they’re willing to work on the less fun stuff.”

If you don’t put the time in to the areas that are most needed, you won’t improve as quickly as someone who does.