Appreciating Why Love Can Be Rare.

Most people don’t know why they are doing the job they are doing. Most companies don’t know why they are in business. Most people float through life.

But if you understand why you want to make this thing happen, what you want to change, why this work matters to you, then that is called purpose. A strong purpose is a multiplier of your effort. You understand the reason why the work you are doing matters.

Purpose supplies your inner drive. It fuels innovation. It finds you your best people. It keeps them with you when other companies come poaching. (They will.) It keeps you staying true when it would be easy to compromise. It stops you from quitting when times get tough. (And, they will.)

Purpose gives you a reason to fight like you have never fought before. And to keep on fighting. With everything you have. Nothing spared.

The kid in the schoolyard that you shouldn’t fight is the one whose mother you’ve insulted. He knows why he is going to kick your ass. And if you beat him this time, he will just keep coming back. He is fighting for something much bigger than himself. Truly.

To do your best work, you will have to understand why it matters to you. Define your purpose. It will help you do your best work.

Big wins are rare.

Most people want rapid progress. Most people look for huge wins. Most people want to hit the ball out of the park. This is a common trap that people fall into.

Yet these big wins happen rarely. Most people don’t want to work on the small things.

If today we got 1% better at what we do and continued that improvement each day, it wouldn’t take long before we have hugely improved our skill levels.

In business, in sport, most progress comes from small incremental gains over a period of time. These small improvements may not add up to much by themselves. But once put together with all the other improvements, they begin to make a difference.

Micro gains from micro daily habits almost always deliver some improvement.

To do your best work, find small ways to improve. And do the same tomorrow.