{"id":878,"date":"2008-12-08T10:00:40","date_gmt":"2008-12-08T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/08\/the-power-of-overkill\/"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:26:02","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T15:26:02","slug":"the-power-of-overkill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/12\/08\/the-power-of-overkill\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Overkill"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to finish a 10km race, be able to run 20km.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to earn $5000 per month from your business, work as hard as you would need to earn $7500.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to be able to do 50 push-ups, train yourself to do 100.\u00c2\u00a0 The power of overkill is that it is often necessary to reach your smaller goals.<\/p>\n

There are No Half-Efforts<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re working on a project, there are two modes you can operate in:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 0 – 10% effort<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. 100% effort<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Notice there is no \u201c50% effort\u201d category. While it\u2019s reasonable to spend half your time on a goal, it\u2019s not reasonable to spend half your focus.\u00c2\u00a0 Your brain can\u2019t split 100% focus between two projects equally.\u00c2\u00a0 Either one gets 100% and the other get\u2019s 0-10%, or they both get 0-10%.<\/p>\n

    Many people (myself included) have made the mistake of tuning down a goal to make it more easier to achieve.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u2019s good to set realistic goals.\u00c2\u00a0 But when those goals appear too easy, you\u2019re effort often slips from the 100% mark down to the 0-10% level.\u00c2\u00a0 My motto is to set achievable goals, but overkill them.<\/p>\n

    Overkill Forces You to Single-Task<\/h2>\n

    I\u2019ve written previously about the importance of sticking to one goal at a time<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 While this doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t have any goals simultaneously, you can only have one you focus on.\u00c2\u00a0 By adding overkill on top of the goal you\u2019ve written down, you can\u2019t split your effort between three or four projects.<\/p>\n

    Remember, you only have one 100% block of focus you can use at any given time.\u00c2\u00a0 So you need to decide which project will get that 100% and which will just coast.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t make this decision consciously, then the default is to have all your projects at 0-10%.<\/p>\n

    Change is Harder Than You Think<\/h2>\n

    Often reaching a goal takes far more work than you imagined.\u00c2\u00a0 Overkill towards a goal helps because when you get hit with a setback, you won\u2019t give up.\u00c2\u00a0 If you\u2019ve been training to run a marathon, a few rocks won\u2019t slow you down when you run ten miles.<\/p>\n

    A few years ago I was trying to get in the habit of regular exercise.\u00c2\u00a0 I had failed the first three times, so on my fourth attempt I went for overkill.\u00c2\u00a0 I made a point of exercising for at least an hour every single day for 30 days straight.\u00c2\u00a0 This is overboard for what I needed, but in the end I formed the habit.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, over four years later I still keep the habit.<\/p>\n

    Overkill the Training, Not The Target<\/h2>\n

    Don\u2019t confuse overkill with setting unrealistic goals.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to get discouraged when you\u2019re facing a goal you can\u2019t possibly reach.\u00c2\u00a0 When that happens, it isn\u2019t hard to turn a 100% into a 0%.\u00c2\u00a0 A good rule of thumb by Zig Ziglar is that, \u201cgoals should be out of reach, but not out of sight.\u201d\u00c2\u00a0 If you can\u2019t form a believable plan to reach your goal, you\u2019ve probably made it too high.<\/p>\n

    Where you apply the overkill is on the training.\u00c2\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve decided what your target is, put in the effort that goes far beyond what is necessary.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn\u2019t easy to do.\u00c2\u00a0 Often the level of what is necessary is already fairly high.\u00c2\u00a0 Without giving some margin, however, any setback will cripple your progress.<\/p>\n

    A major source of failure is putting in a reasonable effort.\u00c2\u00a0 Goals are achieved by unreasonable people doing far more than what is expected or necessary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If you want to finish a 10km race, be able to run 20km.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to earn $5000 per month from your business, work as hard as you would need to earn $7500.\u00c2\u00a0 If you want to be able to do 50 push-ups, train yourself to do 100.\u00c2\u00a0 The power of overkill is that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,680],"tags":[263,36,26,25,260,38,262,261],"class_list":{"0":"post-878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-goal-setting","7":"category-nc-productivity","8":"tag-effort","9":"tag-energy","10":"tag-goals","11":"tag-motivation","12":"tag-overkill","13":"tag-productivity","14":"tag-project","15":"tag-unstoppable-force","16":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Power of Overkill - 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