In practical terms, one can approach certain unassailable
goals (e.g., perfection) forever WITHOUT ACTUALLY GETTING THERE. However, such can still be increasingly and
progressively approached … progressively
distancing oneself from GROUND ZERO!
Let’s consider the goal of owning a house with an ample
front and back yard, plus a front porch, bordered by a white picket fence, on a
restricted access street.
One will likely start out – first –
with a one-bedroom apartment with noisy neighbors on a busy street in a crowded
neighborhood.
Marriage – or collusion, with two or
more people working, may bump that up to a two- or three-bedroom apartment in a
more “upscale” environment.
Adding children and losing one
working person, but hustling a little to get a promotion, may hold things
“even”. The next promotion, combined
with savings accrued along the way, may keep the momentum going. But it’s going to take increasing amounts of
“hustle”.
In the end, one may not actually
attain either the white picket fence or the front porch or both, but, all
things considered, one may end up a lot further along with SOME SORT OF ENHANCED INDEPENDENT LIVING by
diligently progressing toward
the goal.
The slope of the curve early in the workings is
important. A steeper slope creates
momentum such that one can get closer to the goal a lot faster. As graphed in this illustration, the slope of
the curve is increased more by “Working Smarter” than it is by working
harder! However, if you overlay the
graph with a plot showing an ACCELERATED RATE of energy expenditure, everything
shifts to the left, showing a much faster approach to the goal.
Imagine what the result would be by BOTH “working smarter”
and putting forth more energy!
In a competitive environment – for example, where a
PROMOTION may be at stake – ENERGY OUTPUT and “Hustle” are critical.
There’s an ancient parable about
two hikers accidently encountering a bear in the woods. The first hiker says, “(Groan!) There’s no way we can outrun that bear!” But the second hiker replies, “All I have to do is outrun YOU!”
Two final thoughts:
First, in politics we hear about people “moving the goal
posts” … making things more difficult to achieve than originally conceived or
than having any “reasonable expectation” of achievement. This might be called “Asymptotic
Meddling”.
Second, in sports, the “league” you’re in sets the
asymptotic limits of expectation.
However, some [who probably “don’t know any better”] do not consider
themselves personally constrained by the asymptote, and actually go on to exceed
the asymptotic limits others are up against.
These “outliers” generally go on to the next higher league and may
become “elite” athletes.
The “Four Minute Mile” was one such
asymptotic barrier for “middle distance runners” from the beginning of time to
the early 1950s (although no one knows how fast the early Greek athletes were).
“[Breaking this
barrier] was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3:59.4. The "four-minute barrier" has
since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all male
professional middle distance runners.
In the last 50 years the mile record has been
lowered by almost 17 seconds, and currently stands at 3:43.13.
With or without “Bears in the Woods”, there is increased
distancing from Ground Zero to be afforded and there are elite Asymptotic
Heights to be approached that can make the journey extraordinarily fruitful –
as opposed to “fitful” – and exhilarating.
Let’s get “smarter”, ENERGIZE and HUSTLE the best we can toward those Higher
Heights and enjoy the view! There are lots worse places to hang out than
in the “League of Champions”! Quartermaster
Quote of the Week
“While perfection may well
be beyond realization in most circumstances, excellence is not.” QM
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