The thin line

The line which separates winning from losing has often been described as being as fine as a razor’s edge.  Sport is full of examples of this.  I like watching Formula One motor racing for all kinds of reasons but one of the things I particularly like is how races can be decided by fractions of second even after hundreds of miles have been raced.  Cars have to be placed with millimetre perfect precision, and drivers must seek out and feel the absolute edge of performance if they are to succeed.

Athletic performance too is about much more than muscular power.  Otherwise what would be the point of actually competing?  We could just measure the stature of the athletes and give the gold medal to the ones with the biggest muscles.  Even though the edge in athletic performance is subtle we all recognise that it is real and it stems from these human qualities of unshakable self belief and persistence as well as raw physical talent.  Successful people always create success twice; once in their own minds and once in taking the necessary action.

Bob Proctor tells the story of “Armed” – the first racehorse in the USA to win over 1$ million in a racing career.  In one year, 1947, Armed won almost $800,000 whilst its nearest competitor won only $75,000.  Now, was Armed more than ten times better than it’s nearest rival? I don’t think so.  In fact if you were to compare the race times of these two horses you would find that there was less than four percent difference in their times.  Just the narrow edge that Armed possessed made a vast difference in terms of results.  So it is for you and I and our lives. 

If you are not getting the results you want in life, take confidence from the fact that just a small change in what you are doing can certainly transform your fortunes.  The little something that you must do to become more successful may not be what you think it is.  But whatever it is, you can be absolutely certain that you are capable of doing it.  Just remember that we all have slightly different worlds to live in and what might constitute the vital edge for one person is probably not going to work for someone else.