Success is often boring.
I was on a golf trip this past weekend with three friends from law school.
I typically golf only on this trip.
I hit some really good shots. I also hit a lot of bad shots. I even missed the ball a few times.
I watched the final round of the British Open on my way home.
One thing I have noticed about golf is that the bad shots do not go away. The bad shots get less bad. The bad shots get more less-bad than the good shots get better.
And that process takes way more time than people think it does.
In golf and in life, doing the same thing well repeatedly is the game.
Sure, the highlights focus on the spectacularly good and the spectacularly bad. But most of the game is played in the boring excellent middle.
The hundreds of short passes that Spain executed to keep the ball away from Argentina in the World Cup Final.
The irons to the middle of the green. The three foot lag putts. The up and down from trouble.
The fundraising pitches and the motivational conversations that you sometimes have to do hundreds of times.
It takes years of work.
And it’s the ability to do those things, over and over again, without thinking about them, that makes the difference.
Sure, I can hit a good drive. But my average drive isn’t very good at all. And if I’m honest I think it’s better than it really is. (Or at least it should be better.)
I’ve run into a lot of people who think mastery comes from doing something really well once. When mastery really comes from improving your average over thousand of repetitions.
Where are you not as good as you think you are? And what would more reps do for you?
Want to dive in deeper? I’ll be writing about performing when it counts when I expand on this piece for Substack.