Reflection On Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell

What is it that can drive a single individual to work harder than their fellow members, and how does they benefit from working harder? When the thought of how a hard working individual is different from the normal person in society, a few thing can be thought. Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book, Outliers, that “if you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires,” (Gladwell 151). This phrase made me questions previous parts of the book, but he had shown subtle hints of this in the early sections of the book where luck seemed to determine everything. Most of the audience have experienced the affects gained from working hard, or at least have heard about them. These examples

from the book, as well as actual facts and experiences make me feel that I defend what Gladwell said.
To start, what does Gladwell say about success throughout parts of his book? In an early part of the book, he begins to talk about the 10,000 hour rule. The 10,000 hour rule says that a total of 10,000 hours, which takes about ten years to achieve, is enough to become a master at whatever has been practiced (Gladwell 39-40). It does not take too much thought to think how hard work is in effect with this rule, as working hard and practicing add up the amount of time used. One main idea in some chapter seems to contradict the hard work idea, though. One example is the hockey play born in January. This had to do with the fact the these players were born at a specific spot compared to the cut-off that it made those born in January older than the other children, (Gladwell 22). Gladwell proceeded to commentate a hockey game, but changed the names of the children with the birthdays, but something in the scene seemed off. “January 21 then deftly passes the puck to his teammate December 20 – wow! What’s he doing out there?!” (Gladwell 24). Personally, that seemed to be put there to say, “December 20 may not have a lucky birthdate, but he has worked as hard as older boys to get where he is.” Even with perfect opportunities and natural talents, it can be matched, or even beaten, by someone who works hard.
Individuals who work hard can be seen in everyday life, from business corporations to students.

One personal example is my brother and pole vault. When starting high school, my brother, Richard, had met a lot of different kinds of people through sports, and these friends allowed him to tackle new obstacles. One new event Richard started to do was pole vault in track. I always admired how brave and determined Richard seemed to be while doing it, and he even did well enough to beat the school record. I have continued to watch as he began to do pole vault through college, but Richard’s hamstring was injured at one point and the injury affected how well he could do. While my brother may do terrible at one track meet, it makes his success in another meet even greater. He would not have been able to do these feats if it had not been for the effort put into his

passion.
There are even a few obscure examples in the real world of how this effort has affected lives.

A few communities have found ways to meet and compete in tournaments, but in recent years, this has expanded to videogames. I started to do research on some topics like this just for myself, but one of the stories I found was intriguing. One game called Super Smash Brothers Melee had a foreign player come over to America and started playing. This game has been out for almost fifteen years, enough for someone to have put 10,000 hours into it. The foreign player, by the name of Leffen, became much better as he played in America. Leffen put so much effort into what he did that he beat the top five players in America. The reason why this event was a ginormous deal was that these elite five mostly lost only to each other, and it was a rarity that the lost to anyone else. In short, Leffen came to America being only decent at the game, and slowly but surely, he became one of the greatest players in the game and beat people at impossible odds, all because he was determined not to give up.

In short, Gladwell was right; working hard is necessary to obtain your dreams, and even the unlucky few can break through to the top of their league. Malcolm Gladwell in his book talks about how successes come to those who work as hard as they possibly can. I have personal stories of others and my own success from hard work. Working at the best effort opening new opportunities should be logical to anyone.

It only makes sense for Gladwell to be correct.