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🌋 Think Big, Act Small
As leaders, we want to be great.
We want our companies (and ourselves) to be as successful as possible.
Many of us, while on this quest for greatness, carry a belief within ourselves that we must do big things - make big bets, take big swings - in order to yield big results. And it’s an understandable belief to hold.
Every big turnaround story focuses on the ‘180 degree pivot’ that the CEO is forced to make.
We hear of ambitious leaders betting their companies on new products or markets.
Humans will often attribute their personal successes to huge changes that they’ve undertaken in their lives: revamped routines, new cities to call home, new lives to live.
All of the above is inspirational. And many times, huge changes do require huge moves. But I believe that there’s more (or funny enough, “less”) required for such success.
It’s doing the little things consistently that will change our lives.
We are what we repeatedly do.
It is the consistent demonstration of small and positive acts that will get us to where we want to go.
It is the sound judgments and solidly-made decisions, demonstrated repeatedly, in bite-sized chunks, that will get us to where we want to go.
Charlie Munger said it beautifully:
“You don't have to be brilliant, only a little bit wiser than the other guys, on average, for a long, long time.”
Shane Parish, author of Clear Thinking, says it just as nicely:
“We often fixate on the visible and exciting, overlooking that most success comes from consistently doing the mundane, unglamorous work that few notice.
The 98/2 Rule: people spend 98% of their time talking about flashy things that contribute only 2% to the results, while overlooking the fact that 98% of the results come from consistently doing the boring basics that few notice.
The difference between great success and bitter failure is often found in consistently applying the fundamentals.”
So much of our success comes down to doing the right things, more consistently than our competitors can and will, and for a longer period of time than they’re willing to be around.
With humility. With perseverance. With patience.
The benefits compound
When those around us are going for winners or ‘betting the farm’, we’re staying in our lane and moving at our pace, dependably building upon our prior successes. And luckily, each small act compounds into something exponentially greater.
Einstein called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world. While we often think of it in terms of dollars and cents, there’s an application to personal effort too.
Look at what happens if we improve ourselves (or our business) by only 1%, every single day:
After a year, we’re 37X better. Thank you Mr. Einstein.
None of this is to say that big moves aren’t beneficial, or that larger strides won’t get us up higher mountains. There is a time and a place for such actions. Just not always.
👋 for now, and keep an eye out for an email next week!
Best,
Jeffrey
This is an excellent lesson. Slow and steady wins the race. And yet, I always want to chase the flashy things.