“If someone tells me they give 110%, my response is always, "Why not 195%? Why are you holding back?" Brett Hayes
I have always been automatically suspicious of people who say that they are giving more than 100% to any project. It has become fashionable lately to declare that one is capable of giving 110% effort. And you know what... when ever I hear that said... I totally dismiss the sayer as either a fantasist or an idiot. My reasoning on this point has always been clear: It is impossible to trust someone who claims they will give 110% to something....especially since that is mathematically impossible.
Even though it has been pointed out to me that maybe people who say it mean that usually they give more than they thought was possible to give, I have always found the whole concept of giving more than the whole to anything founded on a shaky grasp on reality... after all if you commit 100%...what more is there?
I have always thought people who say that they will give 110% are just exaggerating in order to sound impressive. Given the mathematical inexactatude of this popular colloquialism, I have always taken it to signify the end of the discussion point. It’s up there in my book with that other corker, “If I've told you once, I've told you a million times". Another total mathematical improbability as they may have told you once, but it's incredibly unlikely they've told you a million times [Don't wish to get all geeky about the maths BUT if each time you told someone something it took say, 5 seconds, it would take nearly 87 days of 16 non-stop hours each to tell somebody anything a million times.]
Anyhoo...I’ve always believed no one - no matter what the motivation - can give more than 100% ...surely! 100% is the whole of anything - it is absolutely all that anyone could possibly be able to give.
But then something happened that made me rethink this.
I had to complete a survey in which I stated the top three things I excel at and work out how much percentage time over a month I gave to them.
And you know what ... it didn’t add up.
No matter how many times I ran the figures... I excel in those three area by spending more than 100% of the available time doing them. It was a total mathematical impossibility. I just couldn't figure it out.
And that is when it dawned on me.
Life doesn’t add up. Life isn’t about perfect maths. The percentages fluctuate as you focus on different parts as you attempt to strike a balance.... and when you add it all up... if you really are doing it all to the best of your ability... it will never add up to 100%.
Because if you ARE doing it right and if you ARE giving every thing the attention it deserves... then you will always have gone into reserve.
And that is how you really can give 110%.
So... now I’ve told you once.... PLEASE... don’t make me tell you a million times!
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