MLM and arbitrary milestones/the magical 10,000 number

Today, as the title suggests, I'm going to write about numbers and how people like to make connections to them. I have always had trouble understanding why certain numbers are important, and then it made me think, could all MLM milestones be arbitrary? Some of these include the 2-5 years rule, the 6-4-2/12 circles plans, the work 10-15 hours a week plan, and many many more!  Therefore, in celebration of 3,000 views of the blog, I am going to veer a bit off course and write about the weird 10,000 hours of practice makes you an expert rule.

I first read about the 10,000 hours rule from one of my favorite authors, Robert Kiyosaki (Sarcasm implied). In his book, Businesses of the 21st Century, he suggested that nobody in network marketing could be good until they had been in the business for 10,000 hours. Here is a tweet he made about this in 2011, "It takes 10,000 hours minimum before you’re good at anything:Before you are able to do the right thing at the right moment every time." (https://twitter.com/theRealKiyosaki/status/34989986365313024) The tweet sounds great on the surface, but after quick analysis the incorrectness is staggering. First of all, if it took 10,000 hours to be good at anything, then people would be very bad at nearly everything. It is very rare for people to commit that much time to learning new skills, and that would be a huge deterring factor. Also, would teachers be unnecessary if it takes 10,000 hours regardless of how you are learning to become good at something? MLM is supposed to be easy and duplicable, and yet according to Kiyosaki, network marketing (another term for MLM) requires 10,000 hours before you are considered "good".

I was told of the 10,000 hours rule when I was at the FED in September of 2015 and it was even paired with the 5 year minimum rule. The 5 year rule suggested that if you participated in MLM for 5 years then that was equivalent to 10,000 hours and you would become successful. However, MLM has also proposed it is an easy part time gig of 10-15 hours a week, so let's do some math of 15 hours a week for 5 years. 15*52 = 780 and 780*5 = 3,900. I would consider 3,900 a substantial difference from 10,000, and yet this line was repeated many times when I was being propositioned for the business. So, if Robert Kiyosaki and MLMers came to these same conclusions about how much dedication you need for MLM, who made up the rule first? I visited my favorite site for this blog, psychcentral.com, and they had a fascinating article on the 10,000 hour rule

(http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/07/17/malcolm-gladwells-10000-hour-rule-is-proven-bunk/).

The originator of the concept is Malcolm Gladwell, and according to the article he has a spotty history with this particular concept to say the least. Some of the highlights of the article include, Gladwell got this number from one study in 1993 involving a group of musicians, there is much more to becoming an expert other than practice (genetics and circumstances), chess experts have been documented to vary in practice time between 3,000 hours and 25,000 hours. A cursory search on Google typing in, "Gladwell 10,000 hour myth" will show tons of other reputable articles suggesting he at best generalizes this conclusion. Some of these sources include BBC, Business Insider, and even Inc.com (not reputable, but a pro MLM biased news source) as seen here

(http://www.inc.com/nick-skillicorn/the-10000-hour-rule-was-wrong-according-to-the-people-who-wrote-the-original-stu.html). So, why do MLMers and Kiyosaki still get this wrong? My opinion, and this is subjective, it gives people comfort. It lures people into MLM, and makes them think there is a proven method of success with a tangible end point to the work. Also, it helps to make people feel guilty for quitting early. Kiyosaki is famous for writing books on network marketing, but he is not famous for being successful in the business. In fact, Kiyosaki failed to build an Amway business, as seen here, (http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/robert-kiyosaki-and-multi-level-marketing-exposed/)

so he would be a bad reference on becoming an expert in the field, aside from all of the other nonsense that surrounds him. MLMers, according to this article, (https://www.thebalance.com/the-likelihood-of-mlm-success-1794500) have a 90% drop rate in their first five years. Chances are, if you are talking to an MLMer about this rule, they haven't even met someone in MLM that could be a living example of the rule. Yet they continue to spread the myth that 10,000 hours makes you an expert in hopes that you will join and see it through. Which brings me to the main point of the article, the 10,000 hour rule, much like other arbitrary milestones are just ways to help people make sense of the irrational. It is much more comforting to think that if I just try really hard, and am consistent, then I will become successful. Rather than the truth, which is some people are born genetically gifted, and others were born with great resources that most don't have. Unfortunately, practice and consistency just isn't enough for most to become experts. MLMers utilize this form of guilting and manipulation to coerce downline not to quit, and they also use it to build confidence in themselves when delivering the plan. Science holds a lot of prestige and sounds the most credible when explaining MLM. Furthermore, people question these scientific facts the least, because they are supposed to be upheld to the highest levels of scrutiny. People need to be held accountable for the things they say, and the resources they utilize to develop their opinions. It is important to never take any facts for granted, and ask what agenda they could be pushing. I encourage people to watch John Oliver's, Last Week Tonight special on science, because we are in a time where science can be just as fraudulent as anything else. Here is the link to the John Oliver special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw If you have a story involving abuses from your upline and would like me to share it on this blog as a guest post, then please e-mail me and I will be more than happy to post it! Your stories are not as unique as you may think, and your stories are some of the most impactful resources we have to fight MLMs. I will keep your anonymity upon request.