Just give me 18 minutes a day.
That’s all I ask, and I can make you really good at something.
I used to believe that to excel at something, you had to dedicate your entire existence to it.
Practice had to be relentless; every waking hour, a chance to perfect your craft. That’s how you became the best.
But what if you don't want to be the best in the world? What if you just want to be really good?
There's an art to being exceptionally good at something without the aim of world domination in that field. I never aspired to be a chess grandmaster or an Olympic skier, but I certainly wanted to hold my own in a game with friends or on a ski trip.
And that’s when I stumbled upon the Rule of 100.
This idea shifted my perspective entirely. It's not about committing every second of your day to a discipline. Instead, it's about consistent, manageable dedication.
The idea is that if you spend just 100 hours a year, roughly 18 minutes a day, on any given skill, be it playing the guitar, practicing corn hole, or learning a language, you could surpass 95% of the world in that skill.
Now, it might not land you in Carnegie Hall or in the ring with Connor McGregor, but you would undeniably excel. And when you think about it, 18 minutes a day is incredibly doable. It’s about prioritizing and reshaping how you view time and commitment.
I even pitched this idea to my kids. Imagine devoting 18 minutes a day to soccer one year, self-defense the next, and perhaps Spanish the next year. By the time they hit 50, they’d practically be Jason Bourne.
Which reminds me, Matt Damon hasn’t signed up for Free Swim yet; what’s up with that?
So, in a world that’s constantly vying for our time and attention, perhaps the real trick is not to give more but to give smarter. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through social media, dedicate those precious minutes to mastering a new skill.
Rather than hitting snooze on your alarm, wake up 18 minutes earlier. It’s about small, consistent efforts that could ultimately lead to mastery. In the end, it's not just about the skill you acquire.
It's about the discipline, the structure, and the sheer power of dedication. And that, my friends, is the magic of the Rule of 100.
