@Chad & JasonR - Interesting point about the Pareto principle. My tutors used to call it the 'law of diminishing returns'. I had this discussion with my boyfriend and we both agreed that it makes more sense to be competent at 5 things than a world-renowned expert in one thing. But due to our personalities we both prefer to aim for master level in things we do. He, in particular, fits JasonR's description of suffering from too much focus. He also has a lot of intrinsic motivation for programming, and is almost entirely unmoved by external motivations.
Deliberate Practice
There's certain areas where I think the Pareto principle applies, and other areas where it does not. I don't really care to be a world-renowned gardener - I'd just like to be competent. On the other hand, I would like to be very skilled at at least one instrument. For me the problem has been that I rarely become either competent or skilled. So I want to very deliberately try to achieve mastery. Then I'll have a better idea of where I want to put in the time on deliberate practice.
On Jacob's recommendation I read 'Mastery' by George Leonard, and I'd recommend checking it out. It's more of a spiritual book (ie "Mastery is a journey, not a destination"), but I think it complements 10,000 hours. To me the appeal of having X hours to some sort of competence is that it simplifies things. I don't need to try to qualify my practice or anything. I just need to put in the hours. And although there's a goal of X hours, it's an arbitrary goal. Accumulating that time, and enjoying that accumulation and my progression as it accumulates, is enough for me.
On Jacob's recommendation I read 'Mastery' by George Leonard, and I'd recommend checking it out. It's more of a spiritual book (ie "Mastery is a journey, not a destination"), but I think it complements 10,000 hours. To me the appeal of having X hours to some sort of competence is that it simplifies things. I don't need to try to qualify my practice or anything. I just need to put in the hours. And although there's a goal of X hours, it's an arbitrary goal. Accumulating that time, and enjoying that accumulation and my progression as it accumulates, is enough for me.