How to Master Anything: ‘Peak’ by Anders Ericsson

In the book “Peak: How to Master Almost Anything” by Anders Ericsson and Robert Poole, the popular notion of the “10,000 hours to mastery rule” is debunked. Ericsson argues that simply accumulating hours of practice does not guarantee expertise. Instead, the emphasis should be on “deliberate practice”, which involves pushing oneself out of one’s comfort zone to form sophisticated “mental representations”. These mental models are the distinguishing factor between novices and experts, allowing masters to visualise and execute complex tasks effortlessly. Ericsson’s research further reveals that when purposeful practice is combined with expert coaching, it forms the ideal formula for genuine skill improvement.