What separates the Extraordinary from a Mediocre?

“Ability to sustain boredom.”

A few months back I was reading a book named “The Golden Rules” by Bob Bowman. You might already know him as the coach of the Swimming phenomena, Michael Phelps.

The book was mainly surrounded by how Bob turned Michael from an average swimmer to the greatest of all time.

Michael used to train for 365 days for straight 5–6 years without a gap of a single day!

They say if you take a one-day gap in swimming, it takes you two days to recover. Michael ruled out that option altogether pretty much in his entire career.

This is the tough part I see which separates a mediocre and a genius. No matter how much you love doing something, if you follow a routine based on it, you will fall prey to boredom sooner or later and look for a break.

But if you somehow convince your mind to follow the same routine even if you are not feeling like doing it, you’ll reach heights you can never imagine.

“After a point, it all comes down to who can take in the boredom but still get on with it.” — Michael Phelps.

In an interview, even the cricketing maestro Virat Kohli accepted the fact that there are days when he doesn’t want to get up and train. It’s almost a sense of detachment — he further adds. But he has a voice within which says let’s try it once more. So you see? He takes the action even when he doesn’t feel like doing it.

This is the point I'm stressing about.

It’s about putting in the reps every single day. Might not sound flamboyant, but it is what it is.

Cheers!