How to Excel

Scenario: "Dude, we've learned all we know. It's time to apply our knowledge and do the work. Yay!" Entrepreneurs adopt one of two mindsets when approaching a task:

• Mindset 1: "I will finish this!"
• Mindset 2: "I will finish this better than how I finished it last time!"

The former mindset gets you mediocrity; the latter mindset propels you toward greatness. Recommends a researcher who studied the work habits of great athletes, musicians, and orators:

• "Approach each critical task with an explicit goal of getting much better at it."

That is:

Improve, Improve, Improve

• If you're managing a team, consciously boost productivity every project.
• If you're selling your wares, consciously shorten the sales cycle every order.
• If you're pitching your products, consciously improve your value with every pitch.

When you explicitly seek to improve whatever you're doing, you'll start adopting freakish talents that will rock the effa out of whoever's in your way.

The Rock Star Approach

The more practice hours you put in X, the more you'll see yourself rock in X -- according to a study of talented 20-year old violinists:

The best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.

Of course, the key phrase: "deliberate practice."

Practice the Shoddy Way

1. You put in your hours.
2. You leave.

Practice the Badass "Deliberate" Way

1. You squeeze out every freakish inch of your practice minute to explicitly improve, improve, improve.
2. You return with the same mindset tomorrow.

Why "Deliberate" Practice Works

When you explicitly inspire yourself to improve at X, you start seeking ways to improve X:

• "How can I boost team morale?"
• "How can I check email faster?"
• "How can I finish work quicker?"
• "How can I boost productivity?"
• "How can I inspire my team more?"
• "How can I improve innovation?"

Improve, improve, improve, improve -- adopt that gabillion-dollar word into every task, and you'll soon see ridiculous results.

Yup, It's All in Your Mindset

Like most people, how does typical Icky Timmy start his day?

Icky Timmy's Routine:

1. Check email.
2. Do work.
3. Call clients.
4. Pitch to prospects.
5. Close business.

Now, contrast Timmy with Rocky Rock Star -- who has a similar schedule.

Rocky Rock Star's Routine:

1. Check email -- but find ways to resolve it faster with every email.
2. Do work -- but find ways to work more efficiently per hour.
3. Call clients -- but find ways to increase customer satisfaction with every call.
4. Pitch to prospects -- but find ways to generate qualified leads faster.
5. Close business -- but find ways to increase business with every transaction.

That is, Rocky Rock Star exploits the mutha-@^^%^ out of every minute to boost his talents.

The Fat Benefits

When you consciously will yourself to improve whatever you're doing:

1. You boost $$$ per time spent.
2. You amplify knowledge.
3. You increase productivity.
4. You free yourself for chillaxing-time.
5. You build one freakish business.

Win.

Improve every tick.

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