Baseline of Excellence

Read Time: 3 Minutes

I’m alone.

And I’m afraid.

The silence is something different.

The clock is ticking, I know I have to get going.

I take a deep breath.

My legs are burning already, there is no fucking motivation left.

I sit down.

And start doing my last set of leg extensions.

Some grueling 45 seconds later, I look up, panting, expecting some granny to look at me weirdly.

They don’t get that without pain, there is no gain.

But there is no lonely soul in sight.

It’s Easter Sunday and my gym is empty, nothing I’ve ever seen before.

I’m the only guy who got up early, did my work, and then went to the gym

- the only one.

Why?

Because I have a high “Baseline of Excellence”.

What TF is that?

Your “Baseline of Excellence” is a phrase I came up with, but it’s nothing new.

It’s the minimum, the absolute least you get done every single day.

What do I mean?

Think about a man (1), the average person.

He:

• gets up early

• goes to work

• maybe hits the gym

• cooks himself some food

on a weekday. Not completely bad, nothing special either.

What happens when the weekend comes around?

He:

• sleeps in

• doesn’t exercise at all

• doesn’t do any kind of work

• orders delivery & drinks alcohol

He was a good boy for a few days, just to turn stupid because the calendar told him to (calendars are a scam btw)

The point?

He has a bad baseline.

On his worst days, he does nothing that could benefit his future self.

He makes a tiny bit of progress during one day,

just to fuck it all up again later.

Like this:

It’s stupid.

The average are running in circles.

The Baseline of Excellence combats that behavior.

Imagine another man (2), with the same weekday as man 1.

But, on weekends, he:

• still gets up early

• drags his ass to the gym

• never orders junk food or drinks

• starts working on his own projects

The difference between the two in 1 year is night and day.

Because of one thing:

Man 2 had a higher baseline of excellence.

Even on days when it’s “ok to relax” he went to the gym.

Even on days he felt like sleeping in, he got up.

You never make excuses for the basics.

Even on Easter Sunday.

Build Your Baseline

Now you understand what the “Baseline of Excellence” means.

So you can build your own.

Your current baseline is what you do now, every single day without fail.

(Of course, there can be exceptions to the rule. Travel or emergencies for example, but you get the point.)

Let me give you my baseline activities as an example:

• write

• journal

• go gym

• meditate

• cold shower

• post & engage on X

and a few other things.

The basic good habits.

Yours might look different, maybe even better than what I do.

Be honest and write down your baseline activities.

I can’t see your list right now.

But chances are, if you pull through with all of yours for 1, 3, or even 5 years without fail;

You’re in the top tier percentage of humans.

We’re always striving for Improvement.

So, Improve.

Here is how:

Think about things that would be beneficial to do every single day:

→ Reach out to 5 new people on X every day

→ Go for a 10-minute walk every single day

This sounds extremely similar to habit building.

It kind of is.

But we’re talking this shit more serious than

→ doing some cute little habits

but all of a sudden

→ it’s ok to skip one day

Do you think Andrew Tate is skipping days?

Do you think Elon Musk is skipping days?

Do you think ANYONE who deserves to be looked upon is skipping days?

No.

So why should we skip days?

The most important part?

→ WITHOUT FAIL

This is your baseline of excellence, not your baseline of “oh but it’s raining today I don’t have to go for a walk”

It’s not about the walk.

It’s about the mindset you build.

You force yourself to become an impeccably consistent person.

EVEN on your worst days, EVEN when the weather is shit, EVEN when your legs won’t carry you

→ You will go for that 10 minute walk

Just as I went to go to the gym on Easter Sunday.

Alone.

But came home proud (and without the ability to walk lol)

Thank you for reading!

FYI:

We’ll be upping up the Improvement Letter schedule. Expect to hear from me Thursday and Sunday :)

Never Stop Improving!

~ Henri