The person who seems to all of a sudden have “made it.” The man or woman who transformed themselves physically or the individual who makes it to the top of their field.
I feel so fortunate to have seen a lot of these “overnight” successes in my life.
Anything but overnight
We see successful people and assume its one event that put them over the edge. The truth is it’s extremely rare for a single event to create success. And if it does, it’s even rarer for the success to be sustained. Did you know that a lotto winner is 10 times more likely to file bankruptcy than anyone else? It’s because habits haven’t been created.
One of my all-time favorite business books is the classic Good to Great by Jim Collins. In the book, Collins shares extensive data about companies that achieved extraordinary success and sustained it for a period of fifteen years. An interesting takeaway was that not one of the eleven companies in the study had a single event which led to their success. It was all a result of years of doing the right things.
Top level UFC fighters like Ryan LaFlare and Dennis Bermudez spent and continue to spend countless hours in the gym punching and kicking pads, lifting weights, and doing jiu-jitsu. They train and train and train. Then they train some more. The put their bodies through things most people wouldn’t dream of.
Donuts and Seat belts
We all know it’s important to wear our seat belts and avoid eating donuts if we want to stay alive and be healthy. The truth is you don’t blow up from one donut. And you don’t die (usually) from forgetting your seat belt one time. You gain weight from eating donuts on a regular basis or get hurt when you neglect to wear your seatbelt on a regular basis.
Waiting for the Big Moment
I’ve been at this fitness thing for a while now. I remember early on I secured some well-known people as clients. One was a famous magician/illusionist and the other was a New York Islander. Funny thing happened. To my surprise, my life didn’t change much. Then I opened my own facility and I just knew that was going to be my big breakthrough. It really wasn’t. Just a lot of hard work. Second facility had to be the answer. Not really. I got invited to be interviewed by Z100. This was it I thought. Nope. How about my book being released this year? It probably won’t be either. Were all of these things valuable? Absolutely. I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They helped lead us where we are. I’ve been doing this almost 20 years and I’m still waiting for my big break. I don’t think it’s coming.
This isn’t about me though.
Any success I or anyone has achieved is a result of excellence in the ordinary day in and day out.
Our members like Maryellen, Pat Stork, or Megan Reilly didn’t achieve success from one workout. It’s a result of consistent training and effective nutritional habits over time. And they’re still at it. In Maryellen’s case, it’s been over 5 years with us.
It’s what you do every day that matters over time. There’s no magic pill or program. I’ve been at this almost 20 years and if there was a magic program, I’d know about it. The “secret” is being excellent in the ordinary and this goes for any area of life. My wife and I didn’t get 6 figures into debt by making one stupid financial decision and we didn’t get out of debt with one big action. We did it by doing our best each day and you can improve any area of your life the same way. It’s your choice. Decide now. Boom!