The Secret Formula to Excellence

"Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: 
10,000 hours."

- Malcolm Gladwell

I was rereading the book Outliers recently and came across the quote above.  There really is no easy road to expertise and excellence.  There will also be no easy path to the World's Toughest Mudder.  The truth is that many people give up before they can realistically see improvement.   The other scenario is that people get just good enough and settle.  Good is often the enemy of great for most people.  This is true with piano lessons, diets, and in the workplace.  As a group we have gotten pretty good at completing the courses that are thrown at us by Mother Mudder.  We have completed the course four times in three different states.  We could settle with being pretty good at doing that or we can look at the challenges that still exist.  There are obstacles that still present a challenge or we as a group have not completed together.  

For example:

• Twinkletoes (2/3 have successfully completed)
• Hangin' Tough (2/3 have successfully completed) 
• Funky Monkey (2/3 have successfully completed

Author's Note:  I intentionally chose three obstacles where I was in the numerator.  

We are also looking forward to climbing Everest without assistance and completing Dong Dangler/Ball Shrinker (0/3 have successfully completed).  There are obstacles that we have not encountered yet but are eagerly looking forward to conquering.  I could never climb the rope in gym so I am ready for revenge if the rope climb comes my way again.  We have become adept at taking on new challenges such as running two laps in Carolina or running on both Saturday and Sunday in Miami.  The point of these challenges is to keep us from falling into either of the two scenarios.  We will not settle for good or give up if we fail to complete a challenge.  We will run farther and train harder.  We will even take to extreme measures like building homemade rings to hang in the garage or spending far too much time on playgrounds traversing the monkey bars.  

Release Forms Will Be Standard on This Mission

People are often looking for the secret to greatness.  The secret all starts with your personal passion.  This year in the mud has ignited a passion in the three of us.  This passion spans fitness, education, and leadership.  Once you understand the first ingredient...the rest of the formula falls into place.  Understanding the formula is not difficult.  Putting the formula into practice is what ultimately separates good from great.  We may end up outliers or just completely crazy.  Either way this will be a memorable 10,000 hours.