The title almost seems counter intuitive, or some sort of Jedi mind trick, but it’s not.
I was listening to the Ed Mylett Show this morning working out and the topic was: Dream It, Live It, Write It. The first 10 minutes of the podcast Ed laid out the landscape of being a top 10% achiever, or said alternatively, being 90% better than the population at a given goal or discipline. This could be fitness, could be income, could be NET WORTH, or it could be intelligence. The Top 10% (the 90th percentile) is a worthwhile position. But Ed stated the following challenge, being in the top 10%, you’re only 50% of the way done…unless you’re done growing!
I rewound the podcast. I listened again.
Ed goes on to state a recipe of what’s necessary to find yourself in the top 10%. Show up. Have a good attitude. Commit with Consistency. Nothing world beating, but it does take focus and effort. But the change necessary to leap from the top 10% to the top 1%, that’s going to take much more. New Levels, New Devils.
I rewound the podcast, and I listened yet again. I started to question where I was. Am I after a top 10% life, or a top 1% life?
Lets look for some data points
The top 10% of income earners in the United States achieve an income of $167,639 annually. Depending on where you search, you can also find a different answer depending on age/location/etc. But for the sake of moving forward, the $167K is a good beacon. But what does the top 1% earn? USA Today says that number is $788,000. Therefore to move from the top 10% to the top 1%, a person must not just double their income, they must 5X it!!
What about fitness? The Mayo Clinic offers some standards for basic fitness here which is a good guide to starting. This is great intel in communicating fitness “standards”, but it doesn’t give me top 10% vs. top 1%. So the search continues. Even better, lets take a trip back to the President’s National Fitness Standards of 1985. “Participants must at least reach these levels in all 5 events in order to qualify for the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. These levels represent the 85th percentile based on the 1985 School
Population Fitness Survey.” Whatever happened to these anyway? Any correlations to these standards disappearing and our kids getting fatter than ever? Another argument for another day.
Sadly enough, the bad news continues. I heard this obesity statistic and couldn’t help but share (mostly out of rage). The United States is a HORRIBLE barometer. More than 2 in 5 adults (42.4%) have obesity. That’s disgusting. Just being in the top 1/2 in the US means you’re likely “not” obese. Congrats. End of Rant!! BMI can also be a good indicator, although not directly categorized by top 10% vs. top 1% here.
How about running?!? Mile times give us a little cleaner look in the top 50% vs. top 1% here from Medical News Today. Top 50% of males my age run a 9:54 mile. But the top 1% run a 7:00 mile. Not gospel, but again a good beacon to think about what it really takes to be top 1%.
The last stone I was looking to overturn was intelligence. It’s been a while (24 years) since taking the ACT, but a top 10% score is 29+, and a top 1% score is 35+ (36 perfect score). Isn’t that word perfect a trigger? It is sure as hell is for me!! I’m not trying to be perfect, nor do I think I can get there. I’m trying to maximize my best.
What will it take?
New Year’s Day, brings with it new year’s resolutions. I hate new year’s resolutions because they flat out don’t work. More often they’re a plea, and they don’t change behavior. Turning the page on the calendar to create “anew” version of oneself requires real change.
The first part about creating change is understanding and committing to a MASSIVE why behind the change we’re looking to make. Commit to the WHY, the how will present itself.
For me, I need to understand WHY I want to live a 1% life vs. a 10% life? More specifically, I’ve learned from Tony Robbins, I don’t just want a 1% life, I want how a 1% life makes me FEEL!
~Cheers to another year in pursuit!
