There’s a saying which, for many years, has been one of my personal favorites:
“How you do anything is how you do everything.”
This point is often hammered home by my friend, Achievement Authority Tom Terwilliger, as he did in this recent post.
It was a consistent theme throughout T. Harv Eker’s book, Secrets of The Millionaire Mind.
This is one of those concepts that — for some reason — despite a great example set by my Parents, I simply refused to pick up on when I was a kid. It was easy to tell when I was motivated because I went full-out, 100 percent with fire and determination.
But, it wasn’t good enough because I loafed my way through whatever I didn’t want to do, doing just enough to get by.
I’m not proud of it, and willingly (though, regrettably) admit that it set my “success clock” back a long way. Once I understood and embraced the concept as an adult, I then had to retrain myself. It wasn’t easy.
I don’t have children; thus, I’m not qualified to suggest what anyone should teach theirs. However, I firmly believe that — if I had children — this principle would be right at the top along with those other teachings that we all know are so important: not intentionally hurting others, not lying, cheating, stealing and being disrespectful…and, of course, donuts no more than once a week, etc.) 😉
One of my greatest heroes and mentors*, Booker T. Washington, credits one of his first employers (and a true mentor), Mrs. Ruffner, with changing the course of his life by teaching him why — when he swept her floor clean — it needed to be done 100 percent, spotless with nothing missed. This turned him from a young up-n’-comer with great potential to a man who would accomplish more and do more to touch and change more lives than most people could ever even imagine.
In his famous Tuskegee lectures, he taught this valuable success principle to his students and protégés. Imagine if this “one thing” were taught everywhere.
How important do you think this principle is to one’s success?
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*Many of whom I consider to be great mentors of mine I never had the honor to personally meet. Such is the magnificence of books!
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For years I’ve lived with the notion that “how you do one thing is how you do many things” because of that very idea – sometimes I DON’T put my all into something. How do you respond to the law of diminishing returns as it applies to this idea? Sometimes, even though putting in 100% will make the floor squeaky clean, if the building’s about to be demolished, maybe that’s not where your energy would be best spent.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this, Bob, because it is seriously something my brain struggles to grasp sometimes.
Hi Lisa, thank you for your comment. In the case that you bring up, you indeed wouldn’t put 100% into it. In fact, unless there are extenuating circumstances, I wouldn’t suggest cleaning that particular floor at all. 🙂 I think that we have to put things into context in order to determine correct action. For example, in getting a project completed and into the marketplace, depending upon the product, while you put 100% effort into the work you do, you probably won’t have it 100% correct at launch. There are always things you’re going to miss and if you were to wait until you had it 100% perfect, it would never get done. So, once you reach a certain percentage, anything else rates as a “diminishing return.” I think the point of the article is that the “habit” of doing things correctly is actually even more important that the “thing” you’re doing.
Brilliant, Bob. I agree, the habit is very important. Developing discernment, as you’ve noted, is also valuable once the habit is learned. Thanks for the clarity!
I have a personal saying that embodies this philosophy: “If you’re gonna be a bear, be a Grizzly.”
Beth: LOL!
Great post! Beth, I LOVE that saying! And a mamma grizzly at that:-)
My mother used to say that she didn’t care if I was a ditchdigger, but if I was she wanted me to be the one with deepest hole and the neatest pile of dirt. I didn’t get it for a long time either, Bob.
Monise: LOL!
Wally: Thank you for sharing your Mom’s wisdom with us. A very wise Mom, indeed!
If it is worth doing it is worth doing well.
The key is making the decision in advance with full understanding of your goals. Decide how well it needs to get done.
It does not matter if you like the work (you can delegate) it matters only that the work needs to be done to the standard you chose.
I have been guilty of waiting too long to launch (trying to make it too great in version 1). You miss learning from customers that way. Sometimes those lessons are very important and sometimes you miss revenue you could have used to make it even better in version 2.
Excellence is a choice, and potentially a habit. Just chose where you apply it so it matters. Great post subject.
Doug: Great stuff, my friend. Thank you for your always insightful wisdom!