You can’t go ten social media pages on any social platform without being barraged by #hustle #grind and #success posts or memes. It appears we’re obsessed with the path or secret to success.

I get it. Success to most of us freedom and validation that we’re worthy of others praise and admiration. To others, success says they did it. They achieved their goals. The concept of success is a powerful lure, and we’re all chasing it to one degree or another.

I think we’re over thinking it. There is no “secret” to success.  The path to success almost always comes down to one thing? Being great, I mean really, really, good at what you do.

I call this being a 1%er.

A 1%er is someone who is better than 99 out of 100 people at what they do.

If you’re a 1%er, then it’s almost impossible not to be successful.

Becoming a 1%er takes work and commitment. It requires sacrifice, self-awareness, humility, coaching and knowledge, and more.

I spent a week this summer, as I have in the past, trying to get better at mogul skiing.  It’s one of the areas I want to be and continue to be a 1%er.

It’s hard

I’m at a place know where getting better comes in smaller and smaller increments and is usually preceded by getting worse before I see the improvement. I have to put in some serious time, and it’s frustrating. The improvement I’m looking for just doesn’t come fast enough and feels like it may never come.

But I keep trying.

There is a point in learning I call, the peak of positive return. I talk about it in Chapter 11 of Not Taught and this video. The peak of positive return is when the amount of effort you put into something is greater than the improvement you get back. It’s the point when hours and hours if not days and weeks of effort return the smallest of improvement. Most people quit at that point of positive return. They stop getting better quickly and don’t want to put in the additional work required to get better.

Becoming a 1%er requires you get past the point of positive return.

I spent a week trying to get slightly better, and as always it’s the best time I put in every year.

Success is about being a 1%er. Becoming a 1%er is about getting better every day and pushing way past the point of positive return.

Are you on a 1%er journey?