Supposedly, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a new skill (Malcolm Gladwell)

If you work a regular 9-5 job, assuming the 261 standard working days of the year, 8 hours a day including lunch. You’ll clock up over 2000 hours of service/labour

So after 5 years of service in your role you should, in theory, have achieved a level of mastery in what you do.

Now, let’s assume you work from the age of 21 (graduation) to 68 (pensionable age). That’s 47 years of service or labour, or 9.4 windows of mastering new skills

The first myth many of us millennials debunk when we graduate is that our degrees don’t usually provide practical application in our careers. You learn new skills on the job

With only 9.4 opportunities to master skills across your working life, your career should offer you real variety every 5 or so years or you should seek to upskill yourself personally

Thanks to the advent of online learning this has never been easier, we have @skillshare, @masterclass and @YouTube for starters. Start today.