“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

-Anne Lamont, Bird By Bird

Years ago, I lived next to an enormous hill leading up to my apartment, about a quarter-mile long.

My biggest goal was to finally cycle up that damn thing without stopping.

See, I had tried. For months. Wasn’t happening. I had tried everything — pumping myself up beforehand, getting big momentum right at the beginning; I’d try standing up on the pedals. I’d try going in zig-zags. I’d drink gatorade on the way.

…Then I’d make it halfway before I gave up.

Finally, I decided to try a strategy I’d never tried before:

It was 2-part. First, I’d force myself not to look up to the top of the hill; I could only look straight down at the street. Second, I’d go pedal by pedal, one push at a time.

I felt silly looking down. I hope I don’t run into anyone in front of me, I thought. I just stared at the pedals, and focused entirely on one thing: pedal. Again. One more time. Again. Again.

Then, for the first time, I reached the top, without stopping.

I threw my bike down and starting yelling. I was cheering like I’d just won the Tour De France. The neighbors must’ve thought I was crazy (or in great pain).

But I wasn’t thinking about them — I was thinking how I had finally conquered that damn mountain.

I did it one pedal at a time.

How do you consistently achieve huge goals — without losing momentum?

One pedal at a time.

Consistency Will Make You Feel Like a Loser

“Repetition can be boring or tedious — which is why so few people ever master anything.” -Hal Elrod

Repetition and consistency aren’t exciting. It’s why most people can’t stick with their plan — they don’t realize successful plans are usually the most boring ones:

• Writing another article.
• Eating another baked chicken breast.
• Jogging another mile.
• Reading another few pages.

When your mantra is “small progress every day”, you can’t help but feel like a loser sometimes, doing your small little repetitive tasks.

But this is how champions are made. This is how you become a world-class performer.

In his autobiography, Ray Allen — current record-holder of the most made 3-point baskets in NBA history — described how tedious and boring his practices were. Every day, for years, he’d park in the same parking space, wear the same warm-up clothes, and practice the same drills.

New month. New competitor. New game plan. New coach. New teammates.

Same practices.

This tedious repetition allowed Allen to cultivate some of the most legendary and effective skills for his craft — in history.

“You don’t become a champion the day you beat the other team. You become a champion the day you commit to giving your best no matter what the obstacles may be.” -Ray Allen

Allen and many other world-class athletes have remarked how their careers may look exciting and fast-paced — the games, the playoffs, the championships — but a single 48-minute game is preceded by years of boring, lonely practice.

Few people are willing to push through this tedium. They crave the excitement, the novelty, the next “big thing”. They try new diets — keto, paleo, juice cleanses, low-carb, high-carb, all-meat, no-meat, etc. — but anyone relying on trends is destined to hit their ceilings prematurely.

In the words of author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn:

“Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying the basic fundamentals.”

Success isn’t complicated. It’s not mysterious or new or flashy.

Success is consistency — small, simple, seemingly inconsistent steps, every single day. You can achieve world-class success if you do the small things today, every day.

Don’t let yourself fall into the mindset that the small steps you’re taking aren’t working — that you need a new, better plan with nicer clothes, newer gadgets, and better tools.

• Roger Bannister ran the world’s first recorded 4-minute mile in 1954 — way before Nike shoes and hear-rate monitors and gatorade.
• The United States put a man on the moon using a computer with less processing power than your iPhone.
• The pyramids were built using water, sand, and simple pulley systems.

You can consistently achieve huge goals — without losing momentum — by doing the simple, small tasks well, every single day.

“Small, seemingly inconsistent steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference.” -Darren Hardy

If You Can Do it Every Day, You’ll Be Enormously Successful

“Those who only do what they feel like… don’t do much. To be successful at anything you must take action even when you don’t feel like it, knowing that the action itself will produce the motivation you need to follow through.”

-Hal Elrod

Most people let how they “feel” dictate the course of their lives.

If they feel tired, they sleep in. If they feel uninspired, they don’t create. If they don’t feel like doing something, they usually won’t.

If you only ever do what you feel like doing…you won’t do much in your life.

You need to cultivate a healthy “no-matter-what” mantra in your daily routine. No matter what — you’ll do it. Even if you don’t feel like it.

This is always a characteristic in the world’s most successful people.

Take a look at Olympic snowboarders. The Boston Globe once described a typical day for Olympic snowboarders: “Up at dawn, stretch, watch video of the previous day, hit the slopes till lunch, go to class, do more conditioning, eat dinner, and then go to study hall for an hour and a half. At most, they get about an hour of ‘free time’ a day, but it’s usually used for homework.”

A fascinating truth about the world’s most successful people is that often, they’re not the strongest, fastest, or most creative.

The world’s most successful people are simply the best at staying motivated.

To quote prolific Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky:

“A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood.”

If you want to become truly successful, entering into the top 1% to 3% of the population in skill level, you have to do it every single day. This isn’t easy, but it’s certainly possible to “master your disinclination” and put in the daily work.

It’s a choice that anyone can make, yet one few people make.

You have to regularly do what you want to do in order to master it. Otherwise, you’ll always remain in the mediocre majority.

When In Doubt, Take Action

“Inspiration comes to those who work.” -Kyle Eschenroeder

Action brings clarity.

You will reach a place in life where you don’t know what to do.

Should you take this job, or that one?

Should you write a book, or start a podcast?

Should you move to LA or New York?

Most people become immobilized by these decisions. Their fear of making the “wrong choice” paralyzes them, and oftentimes, they miss out on all opportunities. They waste years in the process. They consistently fail at achieving their goals.

But the way consistently achieve huge goals (without losing momentum) is to make progress your goal.

“It isn’t so much what you know when you start that matters. It’s what you learn and put to use after you open your doors that counts most.” -David Schwartz

The biggest success happens to those who keep setting higher and higher standards for themselves.

When you’re constantly asking yourself, “How can I do better?” you’ll quickly become better versions of yourself. Remember, entering into the top 5–10% of performers often only requires a few small lifestyle tweaks.

In the words of prolific blogger 

:

“Every day, check these 4 boxes: Have I improved 1% on physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health?”

Tim Ferriss once made the point that there is far less competition for big success. Most people are content to remain average, so there is widespread competitions for all the average, middling opportunities.

Rarely do individuals invest in themselves so much, they begin to believe big success is possible.

Once you make “Progress” your most important product, every part of you begins to fall in line.

See, Progress is infectious.

If you start eating healthier, you start sleeping better. If you have more energy, you start producing better work. When you produce great work, you’re given opportunities to be the best. Soon, you become the best.

If you want Big Success, make “Progress” the ultimate priority.

Everything else will fall in place.

In Conclusion

Success is sneaky. It often comes all at once, and you suddenly realize you’re 10x the person you were just a few months ago.

“When money begins to come, it comes in such abundance that you wonder where it has been hiding all those lean years.” -Napoleon Hill

I’ve been able to consistently achieve huge goals — writing books, creating huge online courses, lose significant weight, resolve complex emotional issues in therapy, cultivate a great marriage, etc. — by doing a little bit of work, every single day.

I focus on the process, not the outcome. If I do a little bit of good today, I’ll built momentum for tomorrow, where can I do a little more.

While everyone is rushing towards their goals (getting burnt out in the process), I’m taking it slow. One pedal at a time, looking down.

How do you consistently achieve huge goals — without losing momentum?

Small progress, every day.

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