The 100% Factor: Living Your Capacity

Page Excerpts

From Preface:

The 100% Factor is paradoxical – it’s not what you might expect. At first glance you could get the impression that it’s about competition, as the quote that opens the book implies, but it’s more than that. There is more to life than “winning.” That might sound strange coming from an All-American basketball player, I know, but I’ve learned a lot since those days. And I’ll tell you from experience that if you finish the book with the same understanding you had when you started it, then you’ve missed the major point. If you’re not living your maximum capacity, you’re cheating yourself. The 100% Factor is about measuring your own progress against your previous performance. Instead of despairing about how far you have to go, this book will give you a chance to see how far you’ve come. You will have an opportunity to examine some of the lessons you’ve learned over the course of your life, whether at work or outside of work, and ask yourself an important question: “How’s that working for me now?”

From “The Captive Past”

Mama said there’d be days like this. But how often do we let what Mama said – years and years ago – hold us back today? Dr. Phil calls these defining moments – the episodes in our past that make us who we are today. They served us very well - at the time. Consider the age you were and the life stage you were in when you made those decisions that have now formed your current reality.

From “The Challenge of Change”

What is it about the concept of change that has such a hold on our human lives? Almost everyone has some reaction when faced with change. Some of us are enlivened; some of us are intimidated; and some of us are absolutely petrified of having to do something different. We get so set in our ways that we don’t even see that a new way to do something could offer an even better outcome. Or maybe we do see it, but our pride won’t let us admit it. Yet, on the other hand, we are a quick-fix society. We have instant oatmeal, minute rice, fast food, even drive-up insurance. Once we decide we want something, we want it now. That’s how we’re really funny about change. If we decide we want something to be different in our own lives, we’ll do anything to have that change made overnight. Get rich quick. Lose 10 pounds while we sleep. We’ll fall for anything that promises that instant change. But when someone else imposes change on us against our will or without our knowing, we’ll scratch and claw and fight to keep things just as they’ve always been – even if the new way would really be better for everyone concerned. This seems more often the case in our work settings.

From “The Decision Dilemma”

I once heard a quote from Theodore Roosevelt about making decisions. He said that when faced with the need to make a decision, the best thing you can do is make the right decision (surprise). The second best thing is to make the wrong decision. And the worst thing you can do is make no decision. That makes some sense to me, although it implies that there is a clear-cut “right” and “wrong,” which isn’t always the case. However, if you make what you consider to be the “wrong” decision, at least you can move toward making a different one much more quickly than if you’re in the “ready – aim – aim – aim – aim …” mode. The true value is in learning something no matter what you decide.

From “The Problem With Knowledge”

Ignorance really is bliss, isn’t it? When we don’t know anything about a topic, how can we possibly be responsible for anything related to that topic? But, as Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A man’s mind, once expanded by a new thought, cannot regain its original dimensions.” Once you gain some knowledge about a particular area, it’s likely that you will want to do things differently as a result of that knowledge.