You Only Need to Be a Little Better to Get Ahead

There’s a maxim in business (and in life) that in order to be successful, you have to do more than others are willing to do (in the case of business—your competitors). The interesting (and encouraging) thing is that you don’t have to do a lot more. Just a little more consistently. James Clear explains this idea and how to implement it in his excellent article “The 1 Percent Rule.”

In the article, he writes: “T

he margin between good and great is narrower than it seems. What begins as a slight edge over the competition compounds with each additional contest.” And later: “Over time, those that are slightly better end up with the majority of the rewards. Those that are slightly worse end up with next to nothing. This idea is sometimes referred to as The Matthew Effect, which references a passage in The Bible that says, ‘For all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.’”

And finally: “The 1 Percent Rule states that over time the majority of the rewards in a given field will accumulate to the people, teams, and organizations that maintain a 1 percent advantage over the alternatives. You don't need to be twice as good to get twice the results. You just need to be slightly better. The 1 Percent Rule is not merely a reference to the fact that small differences accumulate into significant advantages, but also to the idea that those who are 1 percent better rule their respective fields and industries.” Read James Clear’s excellent article here: https://jamesclear.com/the-1-percent-rule.