Rob’s tweet went supernova.
I’ve spent 30 years living Rob’s list and have a few things to pass along.
Key things I’ve learned:
With any list, our goals exist to inspire action.
We are playing The Game of Life.
Each of us gets to define our own game.
Enjoyment is a prerequisite for success.
Once the joy is gone, performance declines soon after.
Achievement has limited value.
The valuable lessons are learned across the journey and satisfaction is created by a shared experience of working towards excellence.
The overarching goal => Shared Joy with People We Respect.
When we are having fun, we are winning. Being on the path towards excellence truly is as good as it gets.
And if you find yourself winning, but not having fun, then take a step back and consider where your choices are leading you.1
Highly performing people often have a non-standard definition of fun. I shared my philosophy of fun at the end of last summer.
Seek a shared journey towards mastery and ultimate potential.
Know that career & sport are often a substitute for a deeper experience available via family, marriage and/or community.
Purpose - Connection - Joy
Don’t Dream It, Be It
Rob encouraged us to Pick Three.
My recommendation => Pick One.
Pick One Thing
Be That Thing
Keep It Simple
Persist
If you have potential then you’ll see progress in the first 500 days. By 1,000 days, you will have an idea about what it’s going to take to get good. By 2,000 days, you will be proficient. Seems like a long time to a novice. It’s nothing once you done it a few times.
From there, the gains diminish. Often, you will feel like you’ve made no progress. So you’d better be enjoying yourself.
There’s less traffic on the extra mile
Going from awful to awesome… and knowing consistent effort was the reason progress happened… is way more satisfying than beating other people.
Remember Why You Started
Most everyone fails to start.
That’s a shame => Awesome happens far below the levels Rob shared in his post.
Really Strong
Really Fast
Really Fit
Really Ripped
Really Jacked
Really Fluent
Mastery…
The bar is not set at a world-class level.
The bar is set where you are right now.
…and it doesn’t take long to be far better than our current selves.
500 days is ~70 weeks. Consider this the minimum duration for an initial campaign.
If sport is your thing…
Powerlifting
Ultrarunning
Triathlon
XC Mountain Biking
Skiing (Skimo & Downhill)
Work Capacity Training
Outside of sport:
Finance, Accounting & Mathematics
Private Equity & Real Estate
Marriage & Fatherhood
Writing & Publishing
That list is 30-years worth of personal campaigns. I became a top 1% performer in every domain.
But not in the first 500 days.
At the beginning, we have no idea of what’s possible. We really don’t. It is impossible to see the benefit of compounding in the early days of anything. As humans, we have a mental block from understanding compound effort.
I don’t think that’s a problem because our game is not about outcome. We are seeking an engaging way to spend our time, and create a life with meaning. Our life need only make sense to ourselves.
At the beginning, we learn the basics and get to know the people we will be spending the next 3-5 years working alongside2. Peers are fundamental. We will become similar to the people we spend time working alongside. Peers are a key life decision, that repeats over and over.
Get To Know The Basics & Our Potential Peers
The only way to find out what’s possible is to do the work. Most of our competition will beat themselves or fall away before they accumulate enough work to find out what’s possible.
In my life, I am the person most likely to beat myself or fall away.
Joy and wise peers make the difference.
Choose Wisely
There’s a book out there called The Practice of Groundedness it has helped my highest performing friends gain context on what I’m saying in this article.
Peers Matter: The same thing done with different people is not the same thing.