Pick any industry and youll find that very few people actually do the work themselves.
But this is exactly why doing the boring workmore consistentlyis actually a competitive advantage.
You should observe things for yourself.
This post originally appeared onJames Clears blog.
Thats only a sunfish, the student said.
I know that, Agassiz replied.
He continued, Write a description of it.
Find out what you could without damaging the specimen.
When I think that you have done the work I will question you.
Much to the students frustration, however, Agassiz did not return to see him that day.
His teacher did not come the next day either.
Nor for the entire week that followed.
Eventually, the student realized Agassizs game: the teacher wanted him to observe the fish more deeply.
He threw out all of his previous notes.
He studied the fish for 10 hours per day for an entire week.
When he met with Agassiz a final time, the student had produced work that astonished.
How does this tooth compare to the one next to it?
How does this scale compare to the one on the opposite side?
How does the symmetry of the bottom half of the fish compare to the top half?
The art of comparing objects is a remarkably useful strategy in many areas of life.
Take weightlifting, for example.
For the first five years that I lifted weights, I experienced mediocre results at best.
I assumed that it was information that held me back.
I noticed that my foundational strength in major movements like the squat and deadlift was lacking.
It was through comparing what I was doing with what was actually working for me that I made progress.
Do the Work For Yourself
I never pay attention to anything by experts.
I calculate everything myself.
For years, nobody had bothered to read or repeat the original study!
All of the experts just kept quoting one another and used their mutual opinions as justification for the theory.
Then Feynman came along and turned everything upside simply because he did the calculations himself.
-Louis Agassiz
Pick any industry of life and youll find that very few people actually do the work.
Rather than read the original study, most people cite the headline from a secondary source.
This is exactly whydoing the boring work more consistentlyis actually a competitive advantage.
Ignore the expert advice and pay attention to what gets results for you.
Look, and see for yourself.
Image byIuliia Makarova(Shutterstock).
