Many years ago I heard the president of F.C. Barcelona, Joan Laporta say, in reference to a player on his team, “You cannot expect ordinary behavior from someone who is not ordinary.“. He was referring to the player of his team Samuel Eto’o and it was related to some negative behavior (I don’t remember which one). But Laporta’s quote remained etched in my memory and I have been remembering it all these years.
For me it is a very powerful quote. Because it really reminds us that, TO ACHIEVE EXTRAORDINARY RESULTS, IT IS CONVENIENT TO PERFORM EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONS or that, if you do ordinary actions, you will have ordinary results. Extraordinary means “That is uncommon, that goes out of the general order or rule, or happens rarely.”
I think that most people would like to have extraordinary results, whether in their personal, sports, professional, academic fields … But few people are willing to make the necessary efforts, those unusual efforts.
Our society has become accustomed to the culture of little effort. The culture of sacrifice and hard work has been banalized. Sentences like “learn one language in a few weeks“, “lose weight without effort“, etc. are common. We want things easy and fast. And I dare say that most of the important challenges in life are not quick and far from easy. Anyone who wants to achieve a great challenge will have to make a great effort for a certain time. And this is where the problems begin. Many of my students and clients want to achieve big goals, but few are willing to “pay the price.”
Therefore, IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY, YOU WILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING THAT FEW PEOPLE DO, which clearly differentiates you from the rest. And what actions can clearly differentiate you from the majority?
- High-level studies at a prestigious university
- Powerful international experience
- Work for top-level companies
- Read more books than anyone else about your area of expertise
- Be very up to date in your professional activity (train frequently, attend congresses, webinars, read a lot…)
- Get up very early so that when the majority of people start working you have already been doing it for two hours or more
- Hire a good coach or mentor to help you in your personal and professional growth
- …
Surely if you keep thinking you will discover extraordinary things you can do. And when I say extraordinary, I don’t mean very difficult or out of reach for the majority of people. I mean simple things, but things that require effort and perseverance that most people are not willing to do it.
In short, there are many actions that are not the most common for most professionals and that can clearly differentiate you from the rest and will help you achieve extraordinary results. And remember this quote by Tony Robbins that perfectly sums up what I wanted to convey to you with this post “If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten.”