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On a scale of 1-100 with 100 being the world's best, mentally compare yourself to the world's front runner.

- How fast can you run 100 metres
- What is your vertical leap height
- What is your marathon time
- How well do you drive
- How good are you at maths
- What is your vocabulary

You might find that some questions are easier to answer than others. It could be because some are easier to test or approximate or that the 'world's best' position is known. Let's say I want to improve my comparative score in running the 100 metre sprint and will test it in one year. For reference, the world's best time is 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt. I estimate that I would currently run it in about 14 seconds and it would put me at about 2/3 of the way along the scale. How would I go about closing in on Mr Bolt's time?

Obviously, (hopefully to everyone) it is going to require some form of training and how far I can close the gap to 100 will depend on both my potential speed and how much I can fulfill it. I will  also need to actually run it at least once to see my starting baseline as my estimate is just that, an estimate.

To begin with, suppose that I am aiming for the maximum result and will put all effort possible into it. I get the best technique coach I can find, a live-in chef to prepare healthy food, a personal trainer for gym sessions and I quit doing my work and focus entirely on getting as fast as possible. Thinking that I am almost 40 and in relatively good condition, how close can I come to reaching 100 in one year? It will depend on many other factors of course.

Imagine that I don't completely optimise my life in my quest for speed. I keep my job, see a coach occasionally, consult a nutritionist but keep eating the odd donut or two and go to the gym consistently but don't push to my limits each set. How close now?

What about if I did nothing different to improve?

It is quite plain to see that to get improvement in any one area, some level of practice is required. Also, the type and quality of practice is also going to play a role in how much improvement is made.

What if we look at some other questions on the 1-100 scale with 100 being the best in the world.

- How well do you cope with stress
- How good are your decision making skills
- How easily do you see bias in the media
- How clear is your thinking
- How well do you express your thoughts to others
- How good are your influencing abilities
- How much emotional control do you possess
- How compassionate are you

Difficult? Subjective? I have found through my students that these questions are very challenging to answer and also difficult to rank with respect to another, especially the world's best. The responses are generally much more emotional personally and much less verifiable to others. Does that mean they are innate and they can't be trained? Does it mean that because testing is difficult (or maybe impossible) there is no need to improve? Does it mean because there is no easy comparison, it doesn't matter?

There are many benefits to possessing at least some of these and many others at a high level and they may be much more important to life satisfaction than how fast I can run the 100 meter sprint. How much should I invest? How much will I invest? What are my barriers to improving? Where would I start?

Is this something worth looking into?

Taraz
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