One percent

99% bugs me every time I read it.

What is the value of 1 percent?

What actually is the difference between 99% and 100%?

→ For someone, it could mean losing their dream college.

→ For someone, it could mean targets.

→ 1% difference in compound interest can make you a billionaire. (More on this later) → The difference between DNA of human and chimpanzee is 1.2%.

→ 1% difference in conversion rate can make or bake millions.

1% definitely matters a lot more than what we think, in sports is the difference between winning and losing, in trading it is the difference between profit and loss, in life it is the difference between life or death.

But in particular there is a 1% difference that matters more than any other 1% difference.

The difference between 99 and 100.

On the surface, it may seem nothing, like c’mon just 1 percent, but let’s look it like this.

99% is what you achieve.

100% percent is all there is to achieve.

Everyday we flick between spreadsheets, our goals are to do 100% of what we do, but we end up doing 90-95%, our bosses do not mind, nor your colleagues. But then you see 1 of them getting the promotion you wanted.

They were not better or more deserving.

They just went that extra mile, day in and day out.

They ensured, they achieved.

→They contacted each lead till no more were left.

→They were present where it was needed to be.

→They worked harder.

In a nutshell, they did not leave anything on the table, they took care of the last of the crumbs.

When Hernán Cortés ordered their ships to be burnt, so that his army cannot retreat, they were 100% in the battle, because they cannot retreat, they would die, so in order to have them give them 100%, they left their soldiers with no choices.

Victory or total annihilation.

If you invest 10000$ in stocks, the difference between just 7% and 8%.

Years Total Value at 7% Year 1 $10,700 Year 10 $19,671 Year 100 $8,677,163.26

Total Value at 8% Year 1 $10,800 Year 10 $21,589 Year 100 $21,997,612.56

The 1% Difference (Gap) Year 1 $100 Year 10 $1,918 Year 100 $13,320,449.30

We are at that scale, only if we multiply 100 times, now imagine you have roughly 73.8 years (average age of death worldwide), if you are 30, you have on an average 43.8 years to live, if you are 1 percent better then your competitor, the difference is so much that you cannot put it numbers (for context, that is 15,998 days).

And yes, it is not biologically possible to be this much better, in any domain. This serves as a benchmark of what people have already achieved.

How Micheal Phelps has 23 Olympic Golds.

Numbers and effort add up, they add up super fast.

If a F1 car is just 5KG overweight, it loses 0.15-0.175 (approximately the numbers suggested by F1 engineers) seconds per lap, over a 60 lap race that is roughly 9-10.5 seconds.

A simple overcoat of paint is enough to make them lose, the 10 second difference is enough to make someone lose P1, and in many cases even the podium.

And the difference goes all the way.

"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start." -Charles Bukowski

100 percent is the only place to be. The only place where you are not replaceable, if you are in the the top 1% in your field, you will earn more than 10x the top 2%.

The difference is actually much crazier if you go 0.1, or 0.01.

So, put your head down and work, work till you do not have one single ounce left to give, one more step to take, one more mile to run, one more workout to finish.

Then you will have compounding effects.

That is how you grow.

All the best.

Thank you for reading, I hope you found something useful