Average Speed vs Maximum Speed
Ali Abdaal
???? Doctor-turned-Entrepreneur + Productivity Expert + YouTuber (6M subs) ?? Author of Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You
I want to share with you one of my favourite articles by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/average-speed
His general thesis is that our average speed matters much more than our maximum speed in most areas of life. It doesn’t really move the needle if we have a handful of really intense workouts in a month (maximum speed). What makes the real difference is consistently showing up and putting some work in (average speed).
This clearly also applies to studying or working on any sort of skill. We can be tempted to glamourise maximum speed, pulling all-nighters occasionally, or spending an entire day in our summer holidays trying to learn a song on the guitar. But we’d be far more effective and efficient if instead we focused on our average speed - ie: doing a little bit consistently rather than a large amount sporadically.
This is something that we all probably intuitively know to be true. I’ve certainly tried to apply it to my own life over the years. But I think from now on, thinking of it as average speed vs maximum speed will be helpful when it comes to talking myself into getting out of bed to start the day or to take the time to learn how to draw.
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Ali
I help executives achieve what they truly want in their lives ?? Life Purpose and Goal Achievement Coach??
11 个月That is really good! Because your average speed shows how consistent you are with your work! The maximum speed only shows that you can, doesn't show if you actually do the work!
Cybersecurity Professional | Speaker | Career Coach | Championing diversity in STEM
4 年It’s the small yet consistent deeds that produce big results in the end ??
The agency Terminator. Ask me how to automate your marketing. Top 2% Global Podcast. Get my bestselling book at Barnes & Noble and Amazon
4 年Thanks for sharing with this, Ali
?Writing The Big Book of Communication B.S. (CEO Edition) — One Blind Spot at a Time
4 年Great summary. As you said, I've found this to be an intuitive thing that I knew but was not aware of. Looking back, my goal was to read faster and while tips and techniques have helped with that, the greatest benefit has come from consistently reading every night and gradually increasing my average reading speed (without sacrificing comprehension) -- rather than trying to blitz through the book in an attempt to maximize my speed.
BSc Mechanical Engineering
4 年Thank you for sharing this.