No Speed Limits
"He taught me that the standard pace is for chumps. That the system is designed so anyone can keep up. If you’re more driven than most people, you can do way more than anyone expects."
No Speed Limits
This is a story I learned from a recent conversation with Derek Sivers...
When he was 17, Derek called a recording studio with a random question about a music notation.
The studio owner, Kimo Williams, heard Derek was heading to Berklee College of Music and made an odd proposition: "I can teach you two years of theory in a few lessons. You could graduate in two years if you understand there's no speed limit. Show up at 9 AM tomorrow if you're serious."
Most 17-year-olds would have said thanks and forgotten about it. Derek showed up at 8:59.
What happened next is something useful to know about human potential... Kimo compressed 6 semesters of music theory into 5 lessons. Not by cutting corners or simplifying, but by removing the artificial gaps between concepts that schools insert to accommodate the slowest learners. Derek tested out of those requirements and graduated college in two and a half years.
Kimo later admitted he made that offer to lots of students over the years. Derek was the first person who actually showed up. This story shows that most of us are living inside invisible prisons of our own making. We've accepted speed limits that don't actually exist. Think about how arbitrary most timelines really are. Why does it take 4 years to get a degree? Because that's how long it takes when you spread the learning across 4 years, take summers off, and design curricula around the average student. But the knowledge itself doesn't require 4 years to absorb. The system requires 4 years to process you through it. (Yes, I realize that getting a college degree isn’t the only reason to go to college. It’s a good time to grow up, too.)
The same artificial constraints exist everywhere. Why does it take years to become fluent in a language? Because most people study for 30 minutes twice a week. Why does it take decades to master a craft? Because most people practice casually.
In most domains, the difference between fast progress and slow progress isn't talent or resources. It's intensity and consistency. But intensity is uncomfortable, so we've agreed that slow and steady is the proper way. The people who break through refuse to accept conventional timelines. They compress learning by practicing more deliberately. They solve problems faster by working on them more intensely.
When I asked Derek about this time in his life, he said, “Kimo’s high expectations set a new pace for me. He taught me that the standard pace is for chumps. That the system is designed so anyone can keep up. If you’re more driven than most people, you can do way more than anyone expects. And this principle applies to all of life, not just school.”