Most people believe that second
rate performance is fine, and third-rate performance is acceptable. I do not, and
I never have.
The more important your cause is to you, the more important you
think your cause should be to the world. If you represent your cause in a
second rate way, you are doing your cause a disfavor. You are also identifying
yourself as a second-rater. You are announcing this to the world: "Second
rate is fine, especially when it comes to the thing I believe most dearly in.
You should believe in it just as dearly as I do."……
(Full text at link below)
Getting into the top 20% has to do with vision, perseverance, and
the amount of time you are willing to invest. It is not a matter of money. In
any case, with YouTube, WordPress.org, and the Internet generally, you don't
need any money. You can do it with what I call the three T's: talent, time, and
technology.
Pick a niche field. Decide that you are going to get into the top
20%. Once you get into the top 20%, decide that you're going to get into the
top 5%. After you get into the top 5%, don't worry about it. Getting into the
top 1% is pretty much beyond your control. There is no technique for clawing
your way in the top 1%. But there is for getting into the top 20%, and I think
there is for getting into the top 5%.
Don't settle for mediocre. Don't settle for being in the range of
21% to 50%. You don't have to do this. You may choose to do this because you
want to put your time into other things. That is legitimate. But do not attempt
to represent a movement or whatever it is you believe in strongly if you take
this attitude.
The best way to climb up the
pyramid of performance is to start right where you are. Your task is to become
a servant. You must become helpful. You must decide who it is you can help, and
then you must dedicate your efforts to becoming a superior performer in this
particular range of performance. You want to help other people do a better job,
and to do this, you have to do a better job. As you improve, your range of
influence will increase. As your range of influence increases, you will by
definition move up the pyramid of performance. The remnant will tell you how
good you are. The people who become dependent on you will determine how good
you are. You may want to be a chief, but to do this, you had better have
Indians.
In the field of ideas, there has never been a time in history that
is more ideal. The Internet has changed our world, and it has opened the world
to almost anybody with talent. It has also opened the world to millions of
people whose talents are minimal, whose dedication is minimal, and who do not
believe in the three T's.
CONCLUSION
Woody Allen is correct: 80% of success is just showing up. Show up
every day or at least every week. Let people set their clocks or calendars by
your self-discipline in showing up. Do this long enough, and you will get into
the top 20%.
Then live to age 80. You will make it into the top 5%.
Full text at: http://www.garynorth.com/public/14794.cfm
