Patagonia founder Yvon Choinard once wrote:
“I’ve always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession and degree of specialization that doesn’t appeal to me. Once I reach that 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different…”
While this applies to the approach many of us take in life, especially me, it is not an entirely accurate picture of the arc of Patagonia’s success. If you read the rest of Let My People Go Surfing you will find that in most cases Yvon was rather obsessive with his business. When he wasn’t he found someone on his team with the skills to follow through.
The first 80 percent holds little importance in any market or niche. At best it means you are average, and in more competitive markets a hobbyist. There is nothing wrong with this if the task at hand is the golf game you play for fun every other Saturday. But if your dream or business model is stalled at 80 percent capacity you are going to fail.
In anything where we strive for perfection, success, or victory the last 20 percent is all that matters. This is “The Dip” Seth Godin discusses. The path to mastery. 80 percenters are the reason every issue of Guitar Player magazine has a “Play Guitar in 1 Hour!” headline. The fundamentals of guitar are easily learned by anyone with a few weeks of passing interest to commit. The last 20 percent of guitar playing is the transition from the kid who picks up a “Play Guitar…” article, and the professional on the cover.
On any given day our time is extremely limited. With such a valuable resource in such short supply, why waste even a moment of the time you dedicate to your dreams on a task you have no intention of seeing through? Hobbies are fine for visits with your friends or decompression time, but in life, if you’re not willing to make the leap from newsstand shopper to magazine cover, you’re wasting your time.