Avoid Zero Days

“People overestimate what they can do in a day and underestimate what they can do in a year.” - Quote popularized by Bill Gates

Remember the Tortoise and the Hare? The famous children’s story in which the slower Tortoise beats the faster Hare in foot race due to the overly confident Hare taking a nap in the middle of the rae.

With the moral of the story being that slow and steady wins the race.

The reason we are familiar with this classic story that was authored over 2,000 years ago is because of the truth it contains.

But what does slow and steady look like in our daily lives?

It looks like consistent incremental progress towards your goals.

Progress is less about taking the “right” step and more about just taking a step.

Failure or taking the wrong step is inevitable throughout life therefore the question is how quickly can we learn from that wrong step and try another path?

Knowing that the only way to truly fail is to stop moving.

An alternative way to think about consistent incremental progress is to avoid zeros.

We know from grade school how much a zero on a homework would affect our overall grade in the class.

It is the same way in our daily lives but unfortunately the consequences are not as immediate as in grade school.

But the consequences are still there in the form of wasting our potential.

To avoid zeros, we can take the Better Than Nothing approach.

This looks likes doing a 100 push up on the days you cannot get a full work out in.

Or reading two pages of a book after a long hard day before you go to bed.

The Better Than Nothing approach is the definition of consistent incremental progress.

It is saying that no matter what, I am going to take a step towards my goal today even if it is microscopic.

This mindset allows for the ability compound interest.

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it" -Albert Einstein

The difference between compounding zero and compounding one are infinite.

Leverage the eighth wonder of the world and avoid zeros at all cost.

Go out and take consistent incremental progress. Go out and change the zeros days to the Better Than Nothing days.

Go out and make a difference.