What Team Sky (an Olympic cycling team) can teach us about improving our daily lives by making smal

Hopefully, by reading this story, you’ll get a certain mindset that the majority of the most successful people out there have for a long period of time, the professional British cycling team also known as Team Sky was regarded as one of the worst teams in the world prior to 2012 in its entire 76-year history of competing in the Olympics, they were only able to win a single gold medal. it was so bad that one of the most popular bike manufacturing companies refused to let them ride their bikes for races, because they were scared that people would associate Team Sky with their bikes, so in 2002, the Brits decided to hire a guy named Sir Dave Brailsford to manage the team. Brailsford had an interesting background. He was a former professional cycler who holds an MBA he decided to incorporate a business concept called ‘The Theory Of Marginal Gains.’

The theory of marginal gains is really simple, it’s the idea that if you simply improve every aspect of the business, every little cog and wheel by the flattest percentage if you could speed up manufacturing by just 1%, if you could improve the quality of the products by just 1%, if you could cut costs by just 1%, there would be a tremendous amount of improvement, A WHOLE LOT MORE than just 3% but just how effective was this concept in the world of cycling. well, Team Sky started improving on a variety of things they found tires that were a bit lighter. They found bike seats that were slightly more comfortable, they learned how to clean hard-to-reach places on their bikes, and reduce the amount of dust in the parts. they hired a surgeon to teach them how to wash hands properly, and decided not to shake any hands prior to the Olympics to reduce the chances of getting sick. They bought mattresses and pillows that were a slightly better to sleep on. they optimised the nutrition for the riders, so it was slightly better for racing. they even split tested massage oils and found out which one was most effective.

For recovery time, these changes on their own, was by no means a lot the tyres were only a percent or two more comfortable, but they made hundreds of little changes just like this to random things that no other team was paying attention to, so did any of this even work? well, in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Team Sky won 7 out of the 10 medals available for track cycling. They repeated this achievement and won 7 more gold medals in the following London Olympics. they’ve earned four out of last five towards France which is something a British person has never won before. It was a phenomenal success.

what does this story have to do with how incredibly successful people think? well, the most successful people on this planet believe in the theory of marginal games. I would say, the most common habit you’ll notice about successful people is the fact that they are avid learners. They are always seeking more information. Many of them read, Many of them attend seminars, and if you think about what this accomplishes, you’ll realise by learning every single day, you are technically improving your knowledge by a small percent. by this small improvement in knowledge sparks many other small changes that they can make to improve their lives. They figure out little things they can do to improve their mental health, their fitness, their craft, and all of these one percents, they add up. so, for those of you that want to become successful, you must internalize this. this is one of the goals of DESERVE BETTER too. do this, because most people around you are not improving, or they’re doing the opposite. They’re deteriorating, so remember guys, follow the theory of marginal gains in your everyday life, because YOU DESERVE BETTER.