Everyone wants to be in the 1%. But what a lot of people don’t realize is that 99% of the time, being in the 1% is really hard.
Let me explain.
When people want to be great at something, rarely do they see the work, the sacrifice, and the grind that goes into BECOMING great.
Yes, many in the 1% are born with a natural talent. But 99% of people that are born with talent aren’t in the 1%.
Why?
Because they aren’t willing to put in the work to constantly cultivate and improve that talent.
Talent isn’t finite. It gets better or worse based on the work you put into it.
Conversely, there are a lot of people in the 1% that didn’t start there. They didn’t necessarily have the talent, but they outworked 99% of the people with the talent. And because of that, they earned their way into the 1%.
One word comes to mind when I think about the 1%:
CONSISTENCY.
Because success isn’t built in one day of inspiration or motivation. It’s built by stacking wins every day. Getting 1% better every day, 99% of the days you have.
Or showing up with 99% of what you have, even when you feel like you only have 1% to give. The truth is that truly successful people aren’t inspired or motivated every day. There are days they feel sick, tired, and mentally or physically fatigued. Just like everyone else.
The difference is they still show up and give 99% of what they have regardless of the circumstances or how they feel.
99% of people make excuses. They’ll look to point fingers, hide, or quit. The biggest excuses I hear are – “I’m tired,” or “I have too much on my plate right now,” or “I’ll get to it tomorrow.”
99% of people act on motivation. The 1% act on habit.
But that automatic response, that building of the habit – it’s never automatic at first. It was earned through choosing action over comfort when taking action felt like too much.
What separates the 1% from the 99% is CHOICE.
It’s choosing to take action when motivation is scarce. Especially when you’re faced with adversity.
The 1% choose to see the hard as an opportunity to challenge themselves. To learn something, to push through and be better on the other side of it.
Seeing hard as an opportunity over seeing hard as a setback starts with love and passion.
If you want to be a top hockey player, you have to love the game. When you love the game, you learn to love the grind and the hard that comes along with it. That love drives you to show up on the days you don’t feel like it because the work doesn’t feel like work. It feels like growth.
You don’t have to be motivated or inspired. It’s built in.
The journey to attaining your goals and being in the 1% is simple. But it’s not easy. 99% of people know what it takes, but they aren’t willing or able to put in the time necessary to get there.
Simple, not easy.
It’s a saying that is so powerful and blatantly upfront and honest. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu:
The journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step.
You can’t achieve your goals, especially the big ones, in a day. It takes years of honing your craft, overcoming the adversities, and refusing to give anything less than what it takes. One day at a time.
Playing in front of sold-out crowds in the NHL didn’t start there. It started on a fresh sheet of ice when nobody watched.
That commitment didn’t just end on the ice. It continued onto the track and in the weight room. And the food you chose to put in your body. And how you chose to show up as a student. It all matters.
At the same time, nobody is perfect.
We all have days we fall short. Commitment is very rarely, if ever, total.
That internal commitment to the goal is important. But welcoming accountability to that commitment to the goal, and the hard conversations that go with it, is just as vital.
That last line is everything. Because nobody gets to the 1% alone.
It takes people willing to be honest with you and hold you accountable. It also takes sacrifice from loved ones. It takes people knowing when to challenge and when to support you.
It takes a community.
I think the best part about the journey to becoming great is that you get to share it with others. But I also think the best part is that the journey isn’t sexy. And that’s why it’s so hard to be great.
The journey to the 1%:
It’s monotonous. It’s consistency. It’s resiliency.
But it’s also love.
Loving what you do so much that the monotony still brings enthusiasm. Adversity reflects as opportunity. And the grind is seen as a beautiful and necessary part of the journey.
Simple, not easy.
Love. Community. Accountability. Consistency. Resilience.
All life skills that sports are meant to teach us.
I want to define the 1% and 99% before I go. Because it may be different than the conventional wisdom.
The 1% are not any better than the other 99%. The 1% just reaches 99% of their true potential. That is their true gift.
The 1% are 99% process-driven. They don’t compare themselves to others. They compare themselves to who they were yesterday.
Did they get that 1% better? Are they living up to 99% of their potential? Are they truly living who they want to be?
The 1% isn’t just the Olympic athlete standing at the top of the podium. Or the entrepreneur that built the billion-dollar company.
The 1% is also the amazing mom that put everything she had into raising good kids. The entrepreneur who worked late into the night to keep their business growing in service of the employees they love. The athlete who didn’t have the talent to be on the Olympic podium but reached a level others didn’t think they could achieve because they did the extra reps, every day, while nobody watched.
Nobody is watching. Which right now is exactly where the 1% is made. The only thing left to decide is what you’re going to choose to do with it.
