The edge

“Success is not reaching the top, it is staying there.”

In sports, it happens often where an athlete is absolutely dominant for an entire season. That season is their season. They have everything working for them and they are the MVP of that year.

But so many times, you see that athlete fall off and fade from the spotlight. You see them lose their edge and become irrelevant.

This makes me ask the question:

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?

If success is measured by reaching the peak one time, then those athletes who have one great year are successful.

But if success is measured by staying at the peak, then those athletes have failed to become successful.

In my opinion, the most successful people are the most remembered people.

Who will be remembered more? Jake Arrieta and his absolutely dominant 1.77 ERA and 22-win Cy Young season in 2015 or Clayton Kershaw and his decade and a half of dominance with a 2.49 career ERA and nearly 200 wins.

They both have had moments of glory, but Kershaw has been consistently successful for so long that his career is definitely more noteworthy and mentionable.

In my life, I have always tried to gain the edge over people. I know what it takes to be different and do things better than others. It takes:

1. Consistency

2. Focused work

3. Doing what others won’t

This is a simple formula for gaining the edge over others, but the first key is the only one that will lead to lasting success.

Everyone falls out of their consistent routine at times, I just did recently. I put myself in an unfamiliar setting where I was unable to do the things I typically do daily. So now I have 2 options:

CONTINUE IN THE DIRECTION I AM CURRENTY GOING, OR RETURN TO MY FORMER PATH.

Continuing in the direction that I am going will make me lose my edge. I will slowly lose the space I have created between myself and the average person. It is like a creating a huge lead in a race and feeling like because you have the lead, you can slow down. But if you do slow down, the consistent runners behind you will eventually catch up.

The key is to take a small break, then get right back on the road and start running again. This time, even stronger and better than before. You are well rested so you should be able to be moving at a faster pace.

Life is easy during that break. You feel like you could stay there forever. But for success-minded people like you and I, the best feeling is the feeling of achievement. Achieving your goals feels better than vacation.

So find what gives you that edge, and be consistent.

Where you are at this point has taken hours and hours of hard, focused, consistent work. You have been doing what most people won’t, that’s why you can live the way most people can’t.

Don’t lose the edge.

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Thank you for reading!

My goal is to inspire self-improvement in others through my personal stories and experiences.

This is The Exploration.