There is an iconic scene from The Shawshank Redemption where the prison warden storms into the cell of inmate Andy Dufresne only to discover a tunnel carved out of the rock. Earlier in the film Andy asks fellow inmate Red for a small Rock Hammer Chisel — each night he chips away at the rock, extending the tunnel and plotting his escape. I’ve tried to develop a Rock Hammer Mentality in my own life — set a goal and chip away a little each day to reach it.
In life, we overestimate what we can do in a day, but underestimate what we can do in a week. We overestimate what we can get done in a year, but underestimate what we can accomplish in a decade.
As the Chinese Proverb goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” I’m learning to embrace marginal gains and take a small step forward each day.
As a coach, I am confronted each day with how little I know about a given topic. One day I’m working to understand the intricacies of Human Performance, the next day I’m trying to grasp Empty Pass Protection. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the daunting task of all I need to learn in order to be effective.
The truth is — we can’t learn it all in a day, a week, a month or even a year. The key to longterm growth is to identify your destination and begin taking steps in that direction. Where do you want to go? How do you plan to get there? What is one or two things you can do everyday to get you one step closer to the finish line?
If you zoom out on any journey, it looks more or less like a straight line. This is the view we often get of the career arc of others. They make it look easy.
The years are straight.
If you zoom in on the days, you won’t see many straight lines. Each day is a struggle, but in order to grow you have to take daily turns, exits and roundabouts. The years are straight, the days are crooked.
The days are crooked.
In order to experience longterm growth through marginal gains, you need to have daily habits that get you one small step toward your final destination. In the creation of these habits, you should under promise and over deliver. Keep your habits simple, keep them small. Keep them attainable. If you set goals and create habits that aren’t attainable every single day you will eventually give up. As your strength and resolve grows, add intensity to your habits — but always keep them attainable.
This is the Rock Hammer Mentality. Just like Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption — chip away, day by day. It may take you two years to reach your goal. It make take you two decades. Start designing your days to chip away — longterm growth through marginal gains. When you zoom out, you’ll see some straight lines.
Personally, I have three goals each day:
Read (10 Pages a Day of Any Book)
Write (Creative or Thoughtful)
Run (Break a Sweat Everyday)
The categories are broad, the expectations are attainable. The key is to start small and start today. Keep chipping away — when you zoom out you’ll see some straight lines.
