“I’m giving 110%!”
I heard this today from a colleague today. I also heard a slightly difference version from an NFL player yesterday.
“We need to give 110%!”
Of course, it’s impossible. There is only 100%. That’s a mathematical fact.
What we’re really saying is, “I’m giving it my all!”
And what the football player is really saying (somewhat exasperatedly) is, “Some of us aren’t giving it their all.” And that likely is true.
But we can’t really give 100%, 100% of the time. Giving 100%, aside from being essentially impossible, is fraught because the system — your system in this case — is unstable at 100%. Nowhere to go except down. You don’t need to give 100% all the time, nor should you.
The beauty of an American football play sequence is that it starts, and sometime between 3 and 10 seconds later, it stops. Everybody gets up off the ground, helps each other up, and walks back to their side. Giving it their all for a few seconds, then recovering.
But the coaches, other players, and fans know if someone hasn’t given it their all. It’s right there on the tape for all to see.
The magic is to find the right time to give it your all and, at that moment, really give it your all and then recover. Don’t miss the moment.
