What is the difference between good and great? Consider for a moment what separates a champion swimmer and a runner-up. Typically, less than one second. That minute fraction puts Olympic gold around one person’s neck and relegates everyone else to obscurity. The dividing line is nearly invisible, but as far as careers and endorsements go, it may as well be a chasm.

When it comes down to it, the difference between good and great is not really a difference, it is an edge. So how does one go about getting that edge? According to “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell, it takes about 10,000 hours. This magic number is the amount of practice it takes to achieve mastery in any activity whether it be music or mathematics.

What about child prodigies? You might ask. Upon closer scrutiny, child prodigies aren’t unusual because of their intelligence, or even innate gifts. What is unusual is the opportunities that they were provided with that allowed them to accrue 10,000 hours of practice at such a young age. Tiger Wood’s father, Venus and Serena Williams’ pops, Motzart’s dad, and Bill Gates’ mom share more in common than their children. The parents were the primary driving force behind the child’s success in that they created an environment which allowed their children to practice, practice, practice, until, they reached that golden number.

Granted, Tiger, Venus/Serena, Wolfgang, and Bill reciprocated their parents’ drive with their own and that perfect storm is what birthed greatness. The take home message, practice makes you better and a lot of practice makes you a lot better.

Before you start trying to rack up your own 10,000, let me put it into perspective. Practicing 12 hours a day will yield 10,000 in 28 months. 3 hours a day will take you just shy of 10 years. You can see then, how a child whose life is a matter of eating, breathing, and sleeping a sport or activity could then achieve greatness in short order, while an adult with an ambition practice routine needs a decade or more.

The cost of pursuing greatness shouldn't be overlooked. Work, school, family, all would need to take a backseat to focused, intent practice and performance. However, demystifying and humanizing our athletic and business idols does have a palliative effect in that we too have the seeds for greatness within us. It is simply a matter of nurturing them each and every day. And besides, there's nothing bad about being just good!