It’s easier than you probably think to have everything you ever wanted. That’s what the 3% rule taught me.
This story was popularized by motivational speaker Wayne Dyer, but I want to adapt it for my audience of young single men.
So, let’s dive in.
The 3% Rule
A few years ago, Macy’s department store had a nationwide drive to find new managers, but the existing workers had a problem with that. They believed an effort should be made to promote non-managers internally, and they campaigned for that to happen.
The higher-ups listened and gave ALL Macy’s workers the opportunity to become a manager. In doing so, these workers would receive better pay, better benefits, better everything. All they had to do was show up for training for a few extra hours for a few weeks.
Guess what percentage of eligible workers even applied for that training? Only 3%.
Just 3% of people even tried to make a better life for themselves. And that figure seems to hold true across all areas of life.
Most people aren’t trying
Barely anyone in this world is making a serious effort to improve themselves.
It might not feel like that if you’re one of them. Those who are serious about self-improvement make the effort to network with like-minded people. But most of the world isn’t doing jack.
Even those who consume self-improvement content don’t tend to be action-takers. They read the books or watch the videos for a dopamine boost, but don’t actually follow through on the advice.
A couple of years back, my business partner Ciaran Callam and I set up a FREE online confidence course for our audience. We’d put everyone who signed up into a private Facebook group, introduce 7 daily confidence-building challenges and give private feedback to everyone who completed them.
Around 100 young men joined the private group, and a fair amount of them completed the first three challenges. These challenges involved writing something down about their goals for the New Year.
On Day 4, it was time to go out into the big wide world and actually test their comfort zones. The participants had to find a stranger and tell them about their favorite film on camera for 30 seconds.
Barely anyone did it. In fact, challenges 4, 5, 6 and 7 were all deeply unpopular because they involved a tiny bit of effort. Ironically enough, only three men completed the whole course.
Everyone says they want to improve their confidence, but few actually put in the work to do it. It’s the same with any genre of self-improvement.
It’s lonely at the top
It’s well known that most people find it hard to stick to new habits. Some 80% of New Year’s resolutions supposedly fail by February.
The good news is: if you actually put in the work to reach your goals, you can rocket to the top of your field.
Most of your competition won’t put in any effort. If you’re trying to become truly amazing, you’re probably only competing with 3% of people.
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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.
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You may also like these posts on The Good Men Project:
White Fragility: Talking to White People About Racism | Escape the “Act Like a Man” Box | The Lack of Gentle Platonic Touch in Men’s Lives is a Killer | What We Talk About When We Talk About Men |
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Photo credit: Paul White on unsplash.com