Your Routines Will Carry You Through.
Olympic athletes, concert pianists and successful entrepreneurs all have one thing in common. Their success comes from what they do consistently every day. Olympic athletes train every day. Their days are defined by the training they do, the food they eat and the intensity they put in. Concert pianists practice their scales and pieces and entrepreneurs study, test, refine and develop their ideas every day. There is nothing complex about becoming successful at what you do, but it is incredibly hard to have a single-minded purpose and willingness to sacrifice everyday pleasures in the pursuit of your goals.
I remember, many years ago, when snooker was very popular in the U.K. The World Snooker Championship final was compulsive television viewing. Players like Steve Davis, Alex Higgins, Cliff Thorburn and Ray Reardon doing incredible things at the table. We spent the Sunday night of the final game caught up in the excitement of who would win — often not concluding until late into the evening. The talent and dedication on show was inspiring and we all had our favourite players. The one thing we never saw, though, was the hours and hours of practice these players put in just to get to the final.
I remember seeing an interview with Steve Davis where he showed the viewers his snooker table at home and explained he spent eight hours a day practising. Can you imagine that? Spending eight hours a day at home, just putting balls into a pocket? I’m sure most of us would laugh at the idea. Eight hours, five days a week and weekends spent in tournaments and then repeat the process the following Monday morning. This was Steve Davis’s life and this is what he did every day. And he was the world champion. For me, it was then that the penny dropped and I understood what it would take to become successful in the way I defined success.
No matter what you want to be successful at, whether it is sales, investing, coaching, managing, leading or sport you will never be successful unless you put in the hours of training and development. There are no shortcuts in this life just a lot of hard work and hours doing boring mundane work.
Top Instagram influencers and YouTubers don’t become successful overnight. They spent years learning photography and film making. People like Casey Niestat, Peter McKinnon, Aileen Xu and Matt D’Avella’s success on YouTube was not some kind of fluke. Before they became successful they spent hours learning photography, film making and how to craft stories. They studied films, documentaries, they tested and failed and they continue to do that every day. It becomes who they are. It is what they do. It is their daily routines.
Most of us may not want to be a concert pianist, a world champion snooker player or a YouTuber but we can learn a lot from the top performers in these fields to develop our competencies. Having a plan for the day is a great way to start. What will you practice today? What will you learn today?
I remember when I used to be a competitive athlete. My coach would give us a weekly training plan. In the winter it was brutal, it was a lot of cross country running — running in freezing cold weather in wet, muddy and often icy woods, trails and fields. In the early spring, it was hell when we came back on to the track and did speed endurance sessions — back to back 600 metres with only a 60-second rest before doing another 600 metres. Whenever we saw 10x600 metres on the training plan we knew we were going to go through pain. It was all part of the process though. You were never going to improve and do well in races unless you put in the work. There were no shortcuts and there are still no shortcuts.
So how do you build development into your day?
The way to do it is to create the right routines. Let’s say you want to get fit and stay fit. To do that means you need to have a routine of exercise built into your week. For example, you decide that Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are the days you will exercise. The next step is to decide what you will do on those days and when you will do it. Just saying I will exercise on Monday will not be enough. If you do not have a pre-determined plan, you will find an excuse not to do it.
The same goes for studying. If you decide to do a part-time Masters degree, you need to decide when you will do your studying. The easy bit is deciding to do your Masters degree. The hard part is building in the weekly study time and sticking with it. You must decide when you will sit down and do your studying. You only get your Masters degree by putting in the work.
I did my law degree part-time. When we began the course there were 180 enthused and excited people enrolled and sitting in the large lecture hall listening to the course leader welcoming us and explaining how we would study. Our classes were to be on a Tuesday and Thursday evening, 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm. We knew that right from the beginning. All we were being asked to do was to give up 7 hours a week to study.
By the time we began our final year (year four), there were only 24 of us left! 50% of the original students had dropped out before the end of the first year! Only 13% of the original 180 students graduated! To this day I cannot believe how so many quit.
Whatever it is you want to achieve and do with your amazing life you will have to put in the consistent work at some point if you are going to achieve it. There are no shortcuts. The easiest way to do that is to make sure your daily activities — your habits — match what it is you want to accomplish. Want to become an Instagram influencer? Learn the art of photography and post a picture every day. Want to run in next years New York Marathon? Start running today and run at least five times each week. Want to get your law degree? Dedicate seven to ten hours a week to studying.
There is nothing complex about achieving success. All you need do is make the practice of whatever you want to achieve become a non-negotiable part of your weekly routines. And doing that is a surprisingly easy thing to do once you start. The sad thing is most of you will find an excuse not to do it.
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