The power of 10
The magic of three is a well known phenomenon. We talk about hat-tricks in sport, good (and bad) things seem to always come in threes and many of us grew up with the three billy goats gruff, three little pigs, three bowls of porridge for Goldilocks to choose from, three blind mice and so on.
Why three?
Well, three is a really convenient number. Rattling off three of something rolls off the tongue nicely and neatly, creating a rhythmic pattern - one, two and three - with enough space to add in a pause or two for emphasis and persuasion. Whether its grouping objects together, describing something, giving instructions or selling a product, three of something is concise enough to be memorable.
Our brains like patterns and three is the smallest number we need to create a pattern. This means we are more likely to pay attention when things come in threes. Elongate it by throwing in a 'four', 'five', 'six' or (perish the thought) 'seven' and we find it takes greater effort for us to take in the information, in the moment. Being asked to remember seven points and recount them on demand is much harder for our brains to process. We find it too difficult to repeat too much information, particularly when that information lacks pattern and form.
And what about ten?
Ten comes after three - in terms of its magic, that is.
The beautiful thing about ten is that is a rational, ordered number. It is a whole number. Full and complete. In maths, it's a positive integer - a round number, the 'perfect' number. - made up of the sum of the first four numbers - 1, 2, 3 and 4. Pythagoras worshipped the number 10. He was enthralled that it's make up is 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 and believed it to be sacred.
When we start to think about it and look around, we can see 10 everywhere. It's there as a decimal for counting, multiplying and dividing. It's on our currency. We use it as a marker - 10/10. We create 'Top Tens' and when we count our fingers and toes, 10 of each is what we get.
As a number that appears repeatedly in our lives, 10 is classed as an 'angel' number - a spiritual sign. In numerology, it represents new beginnings, innovation, self-discovery and independence.
Whatever your thoughts are around the number 10, it is at its best when it's used in lists. Unlike it's equally magical friend, number three, 10 of anything is hard to remember. It's hard to deliver 10 things verbally and hard to recall 10 things off the top of your head. Remember, that shopping list game? But, when it comes to ticking off tasks, setting agenda items or determining goals - 10 is your guy.
In a list, '10' carries way more weight than three. It's meaty enough to help set those objectives and put them in order. There's also something called the top-10 effect - where, psychologists say, people have a natural tendency to bundle things into groups of 10. And this inclination to work in groups of 10 frequently occurs when we are making lists.
So, 10 Reasons it is
We came up with the name 10 Reasons for this collective because, while we valued number three's brevity, we needed to work with a bigger number - one that would allow us more space and time to convey our thoughts and ponderings on life improvement.
Anything between three and 10 wasn't sufficient for our purpose...and, it would have sounded less credulous, lighter, unbalanced - a bit random, even.
So, we've gone for the powerful number 10 to bring to our readers a digestible amount of chapters in our ebooks. Given the way our brains work and how we gravitate towards full number, we believe 10 topics per ebook is neither too little nor too much. 10, for us, is the perfect application of the 'just right' Goldilocks principle.
Enjoy the feast of knowledge 10 Reasons is hoping to create.
Paul McDonald is a productivity coach and founding member of the 10 Reasons collective.
