Sunday, March 9, 2014

Why 99% of us won't accomplish 60%+ of what we could

I am siting here writing this post, listening to  Aesop Rocks' "No Regrets"
Listening to the lyrics and reflecting back, I’ve realized that through my whole career, the short-lived one as an athlete, and my current, much longer career as a coach, that there is a common thread in those who succeed:

They don’t think.

They don’t THINK they can make it.
They don’t THINK they have what it takes.
They don’t THINK about putting in the hours.
They don't THINK about the long hours they've put in so far.
They don’t THINK about what the competition is doing (but they do "keep an ear to the ground")
They don’t THINK why they shouldn’t succeed.
They don’t THINK why they should succeed.
They don’t THINK about whether that other person is "better" than them.
They aren’t THINKING about the obstacles they’ve overcome, or the obstacles that lie ahead.

They know.

They KNOW.

THEY. F-ING. KNOW.

They know that there is someone else out there gunning for the same goal.
They know that there are those who don’t believe in them.
They know their weaknesses.
They know their strengths.
They know to get there it’s going to take hard-ass-work.
They know it’s going to take shoveling the crap.
They know it’s going through repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.
They know that when they take a break “just because everyone else is/does it/is doing it, that it’s time lost.
HOWEVER,
They also know that they aren’t a machine, and that in order to get to their goal, they MUST take care of themselves. And that means going hard when it’s time to go hard, and RELAXING and RECOVERING, when it’s time for that.
They know they must work smarter, not harder, than the competition.

What many of you may not realize, is that nearly every Olympic athlete knows that they may not be the most talented. That there are other athetes out there who are better, faster, stronger.
This goes for professional athletes and professionals at work in industry alike.

What drives successful individuals to keep going? To, as Tony Robbins says “Commit to CANEI”? 
CANEI= Constant And Never Ending Improvement.

Darren Hardy stresses the same principle in his book “The Compound Effect”- the key to success isn’t leaps and bounds improvements.

It’s 1%.

READ AGAIN.

1%.

That is NOT a typo.

ONE PERCENT.

I know what many of you may be thinking right now- “1%?!?! This guy is off his rocker!”

How the hell does this work? 1% improvement to be a “success” or “the best”?

1% per day.
Here is the graph that Darren Hardy Uses in his book, to show how it accumulates day-to-day…..notice anything?

--You should read the review of the book :-)


I sure as hell did right away!

The first 20 MONTHS it’s TINY improvement, barely noticeable! Who the Hell want’s to improve miniscule amounts that you may not even see day-to-day, or even month-to-month for a considerable amount of time?

Well, myself, for one. And nearly every single SMART competitive athlete, and coach. Ask any Cyclists who trains with Power if they’d be willing to work with a coach who could give them a 1% increase in power PER-DAY for even 90 days.

Perhaps they may need a calculator to do the math, but this would ultimately (to the untrained mind) lead to a 90% improvement in 90 days, WHICH IS HUGE! That’s the difference between a Category 3 average Lactate Threshold power, and a UCI-level PRO Cyclist! (roughly)

But here’s the thing….. your daily improvement of 1%, isn’t linear, it’s compounding!

Meaning:
Day 1, you improve 1% of 100% of your abilities on that day.
Day 2, you improve 1% of 101% of you abilities on day 1.
Day 3, you improve 1% of 102% of your abilities on day 1.
Day 4, you improve 1% of 103% of your abilities on day 1.

Ya dig what I’m saying?
Your improvement over those 90 days is WAY above 90% of your abilities, strike that, well over 150% of your abilities from day 1.

The problem we each face?
We don’t KNOW we can improve, we think.
What happens when you think? You think yourself out of a result. You think yourself out of that raise or promotion. You think you can. Screw that. KNOW IT. OWN IT. BE IT. 

I’ve always felt that we each communicate on subconscious and subliminal levels: be it Einstein's “Spooky action theory” of quantum physics, or the Vibrations or energy we send out to the world (Eastern cultures).

My biggest Role Model in my coaching career, and possibly my life (after my Dad of course) is Charles Shealy, a former NBA player, and current middle & high school basketball coach. He always told me that when you let that bad energy in, it tries to set down roots. But they’re not strong roots, but the negative makes you THINK they are. Ya can’t let that happen. Train yourself to ALWAYS be positive. ALWAYS be happy. ALWAYS let positivity BE you. Don’t try (AKA “think”) to be Positive, let Positivity BE YOU.

(Insert "In Russia, car drive you!" joke- here)

Understanding now, what I do about the world and life, he had a layered message:
1. Always let Positivity BE YOU.
2. Don’t think, KNOW.

Try it yourself:
Close your eyes and THINK you can win your peak race of the year. Feel your heart rate, be aware of your posture, your body language, and your breathing. 

Go ahead, try it. Close your eyes for 60 seconds and THINK you will win your peak race.

Now close your eyes again, being aware of all the same things, but this time, KNOW you will win your peak race.

How HUGE of a difference did you feel?!?! Right?!?

***Note- This exercise, is one of the few times I ever really mention "winning" in terms of a position or result, as Winning really is so much more than a result!---to learn more about that, you'll have to keep reading this blog

Now, what do you KNOW you will accomplish, and what do you KNOW you must do in order to attain it? 
What, or perhaps better yet, Who, MUST you BE?

“If you Believe it, you will achieve it.”

Now go get in the trenches, and shovel that crap, revel in the sunlight, bask in the small victories, get excited for the “failures”- ESPECIALLY the big ones…. Because it mean’s you’ve just gotten a redirection, a big, fat “NO!” telling you where you need to go to get that 1% each day.

It’s been in my experiences, that those big fat “failures” or “NO!” are a 5%+ day.
You just got 5%+ better because of that experience.


What do you KNOW you will accomplish in 2014?