From The Success Principles by Jack Canfield, Principle 35
99% IS A BITCH; 100% IS A BREEZE
There is a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it’s convenient. When you’re committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.
KEN BLANCHARD
Chief Spiritual Officer of the Ken Blanchard Companies and coauthor of
over 30 books, including the classic best seller The One Minute Manager
In life the spoils of victory go to those who make a 100% commitment to the outcome, to those who have a “no matter what it takes” attitude. They give it their all; they put everything they have into getting their desired result–whether it be an Olympic gold medal, the top sales award, a perfect dinner party, an A in microbiology, or their dream house.
What a simple concept this is–yet you’d be surprised how many people wake up every day and fight with themselves over whether or not to keep their commitments, stick to their disciplines, or carry out their action plans.
THE “NO-EXCEPTIONS RULE”
Successful people adhere to the “no exceptions rule” when it comes to their daily disciplines. Once you make a 100% commitment to something, there are no exceptions. It’s a done deal. Nonnegotiable. Case closed! Over and out. If I make a 100% commitment to monogamy, that is it. I never have to think about it again. There are no exceptions no matter what the circumstances. It ends the discussion, closes that door, permits no other possibility. I don’t have to wrestle with that decision every day. It’s already been made. The die has been cast. All the bridges are burned. It makes life easier and simpler and keeps me on focus. It frees up tons of energy that would otherwise be spent internally debating the topic over and over and over, because all the energy I expend on internal conflict is unavailable to use for creating outer achievement.
If you make the 100% commitment to exercise every day for 30 minutes, no matter what, then it is settled. You simply just do it. It doesn’t matter if you are traveling, if you have a 7:00 AM television interview, if it’s raining outside, if you went to bed late last night, if your schedule is full, or if you simply don’t feel like it. You just do it anyway.
It’s like brushing your teeth before you go to bed. You always do it, no matter what. If you find yourself in bed and you have forgotten, you get out of bed and brush them. It doesn’t matter how tired you are or how late it is. You just do it.
ONE FINAL REASON
100% IS SO IMPORTANT
This powerful 100% commitment also figures critically in other important areas–for instance, the workplace. Consider what a commitment to just 99.9% quality would mean in the following work situations. It would mean
• One hour of unsafe drinking water each month
• Two unsafe landings at O’Hare International Airport each day
• 16,000 lost pieces of mail per hour
• 20,000 incorrectly filled drug prescriptions every year
• 500 incorrect surgical operations performed each week
• 50 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors every day
• 22,000 checks deducted from the wrong account each hour
• Your heart failing to beat 32,000 times each year!
Can you see why 100% is such an important percentage? Just think how much better your life and the whole world would work if you were committed to 100% excellence in everything you do.
