Every Friday, I share concise, actionable insights for growing your business, optimizing your time, and expanding your mindset. Co-author of multiple million-copy bestsellers.
222 Seconds and Eight Years (2 Min Read) | Vol. 217
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August 21, 2026 | Read Online “The best thing we do is Every Day. And the hardest thing we do is Every Day.” – Buzz Williams 222 Seconds and Eight Years On July 18, Josh Kerr ran a mile in 3 minutes and 42.66 seconds. Sixty thousand people packed London Stadium to watch. The world record he broke had stood for 27 years. Long enough to wonder if it would ever be broken. Kerr named his attempt “Project 222.” That's how many seconds it would take to make history. But how he covered those 5,280 feet in record time isn't what you'd expect. Two years before that race, a reporter from Athletics Weekly asked Kerr about his training. “I don't do crazy workouts or crazy mileage. I just don't miss days. Consistency is my biggest weapon. I'll break any athlete down with how consistent I'm going to be training-wise and just getting the work done.” Consistency is a weapon. That’s his secret. And he talked about it two full years before he proved it. He didn’t say showing up is important. He said showing up is how he beats you. That's a very different way to look at the boring stuff on your calendar. Kerr didn’t do it alone. He’s worked with the same coach, Danny Mackey, since he turned pro in 2018. Eight years. Same voice, same plan, slowly refined. That's also rare. Most of us swap our approach every time we get frustrated. It’s easier to jump to a new program than examine our commitment to the one we’re doing. Starting over feels easier than sticking it out. Your competition can outspend you. They can out-hire you. What they can't do is beat you at showing up. Not if you refuse to miss days. Most people can’t stand the monotony of success. One question to ponder in your thinking time: What's the ONE thing I could refuse to miss for the next 90 days? Make an Impact! Not subscribed? Become a Twenty Percenter here. |
Jay Papasan
Every Friday, I share concise, actionable insights for growing your business, optimizing your time, and expanding your mindset. Co-author of multiple million-copy bestsellers.
August 14, 2026 | Read Online “The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, he's one who asks the right questions.” – Claude Lévi-Strauss Ask a Better Question We were standing outside Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal, trying to decide where to go next. Our guides, Margarida and her understudy Miguel, asked if we wanted to see the Initiation Well. An infinitely Instagrammable spiral stone staircase winding into the earth. By that point in the trip, Wendy and I had watched people...
August 7, 2026 | Read Online “It is wholly a confusion of ideas to suppose that the economical use of fuel is equivalent to a diminished consumption. The very contrary is the truth.” — William Stanley Jevons The 26-Lane Workday Texas has the widest freeway in the world. The Katy Freeway runs west out of Houston. By 2004, it was one of the worst bottlenecks in the country. So Texas spent $2.8 billion widening it to 26 lanes. Twenty-six. A lane for every letter of the alphabet. It worked. For a...
July 31, 2026 | Read Online “A lot of what we do just isn't real fun, but it needs to be done. And you can either laugh at yourself or you can whine about it. I think laughing at yourself is much more healthy than whining.” – Dr. Rainer Newberry Type 2 Fun I recently went fly fishing in Colorado with my friends Austin and Shawn. We were kicking around ideas, as writers do, on the drive. Somewhere in there, Austin introduced us to “Type 2” fun. It’s the idea that a little suffering makes a...