My diverse set of interests and age means I already have many thousands of hours laid. So, really, it's just a matter of focusing on the last little bit. How long does that take?
>it's just a matter of focusing on the last little bit.
I would call that prefetching.
There are so many things that can't truly be mastered in a lifetime, much less a mere 10000 hours.
Either way, extreme ambition may be involved but it's not actually required.
If ASAP is a factor, that would tend more to the extreme though, but I would say that the same tasks required to achieve the level of mastery expected at 10000 hours will lead to a higher level of accomplishment if spread out over more than 2.28 years.
What you really want to do if you can is to put in the 10000 hours (or preferably 100000 or more) in areas where others have hardly done anything yet (or just can't compare), so you will have something exceptional to offer fairly early in your journey, and build momentum to surpass the state-of-the-art in the long run before very much complete mastery has yet occurred.
Especially for things which complete mastery can not be expected to occur, whether you know it or not.
