It’s an important question. What makes some people get ahead in life while some others not? While other factors such as luck also play role, I believe the single most important element that makes the difference between them is consistency of doing small things everyday.
Let’s take an example in the case of writers. Writer A consistently writes 2 hours everyday, while writer B writes 2 hours only every other day due to his inconsistency. In one week, writer A will have spent 14 hours in writing while writer B will have spent only 7 hours. That is 7 hours difference in only one week. Let’s see how the numbers (in hours) evolve over longer period of time:
| Time | 1 Week | 1 Month | 1 Year | 5 Years | 10 Years |
| Writer A | 14 | 56 | 728 | 3640 | 7280 |
| Writer B | 7 | 28 | 364 | 1820 | 3640 |
| Difference | 7 | 28 | 364 | 1820 | 3640 |
Can you see the difference? Though both writers start at the same time, in only one year A will already be ahead of B by 364 hours. The distance between them gets further and further as time passes. After 10 years, A can no longer see B on the horizon since B will already be left behind by 3640 hours! Imagine what A could have achieved that B couldn’t because A has an extra 3640 hours. That’s a big, big difference. And remember, such huge difference comes only from A being consistent while B is not.
That’s why daily habits are very important. What you do daily might seem small, but overtime it will make huge difference. Do you know how success is built? Here it is:
Success is built inch-by-inch, everyday.
Other people might despise what you do daily since it seems small. Anyway, it’s only one inch, what’s so important about it? People like to see something big, they don’t like to see such small thing. But there’s something they forget: that one inch you build daily will become a “hill” in one year, and a “mountain” in ten years.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
7 25. June 2007, 10:19 pm o'clock |
Thanks, Pamela. Your comment reminds me of a quote by Calvin Coolidge:
Comment by Pamela
6 25. June 2007, 7:38 am o'clock |
Great article. This should be a good realization to everyone that success doesn’t only recognize intelligent and smart people but the level of dedication we put on our task in order to finish it.
Comment by Donald Latumahina
5 23. June 2007, 4:19 pm o'clock |
As you said Alan, motivation is indeed very important, especially if we are to do something consistently for long time. I think it’s clarity of purpose and goals that mainly gives us the motivation we need.
Comment by Alan
4 22. June 2007, 12:23 pm o'clock |
I agree that it depends on how dedicated we are in doing our task. It’s important that we establish a means of motivating ourself to keep on doing the things we need to do. I think It’s very much applicable to almost everything we do.
Pingback by Personal Growth and Effectiveness at Life Optimizer
# 3. July 2007, 10:31 pm o'clock |
[...] Scott H Young, a fellow PBN blogger, recently published an e-book entitled How to Change a Habit. As you know, daily habits are very important; in fact, it makes the difference between winners and losers. This e-book comprehensively covers the ins and outs of installing and uninstalling habits and is very enlightening for me. It’s an expansion of Scott’s popular Habitual Mastery series. Don’t forget to also check his free e-book on holistic learning. [...]
Pingback by What Makes the Difference Between Winners and Losers? at ChrysTay.com | Self Help | Personal Growth
#1 26. June 2007, 7:24 am o'clock |
[...] Original post by Donald Latumahina [...]
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#2 21. June 2007, 9:26 pm o'clock |
[...] What Makes the Difference Between Winners and Losers? » Life Optimizer I believe the single most important element that makes the difference between them is consistency of doing small things everyday. (tags: self-improvement) [...]