What got you here, won’t get you there.
I often tell my son that with some ambition and determination, most decently capable people can get to the 80th percentile of a goal or state rather quickly. Then it gets hard.
To go from the 80th percentile to the 90th, takes 10x the amount of effort as it took to get to the 80th. Then it gets really hard. Every percentile thereafter takes more and more concentrated effort, exponentially. To become in the 99th percentile in a particular arena, it is a 500x difference from being in the 90th percentile.
The average score difference between the current #1 golfer in the world and the 200th ranked golfer is about 3 strokes. The difference in earnings….$5 Million (not accounting for a significant difference in endorsements as well). Keep in mind also, we’re still talking about the 99th percentile of professional golfers.
I’d be willing to guess that the #1 golfer doesn’t practice 10x more than the 200th guy. So what’s the difference? BTW, no more math for today.
Change and continuous improvement are critical to progress forward. This is not a profound secret, we all know this. The difference maker in the golfer scenario is how they approach change and the way they improve. This compounded over time, is the difference of success.
Yet change is still hard. Defaults and status quo are hard to break. A majority of our success really comes down to our habits, collectively and individually. Some of us don’t change because we are too comfortable, some of us change too much because it feels better to take action. Change for the sake of change is just as bad as no change at all.
My goal in working with clients is to rarely, if ever, create a “cliff of change.” Radical changes typically mean we’re guessing, in desperation survival mode, or bored. The bigger focus is continuously finding the right opportunities for small improvements, slight knob turns so to speak, with consistency in execution as the path to success.
I’m constantly striving to live this approach in my own journey as well.
What category do you think you fall in, too comfortable or too much change?
Sincerely,
Russel
“The Backboard”
Helpful Content
Amazing story of how the British cycling team went from 100 years of mediocrity to Olympic gold through small improvements. Watch on Youtube.
Animated overview that simplifies the art of continuous improvement from the The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy.
