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“The difference between an amateur and a professional is their habits. An amateur has amateur habits. A professional has professional habits.”
– Steven Pressfield
Scott Adams famously said that “Losers have goals, winners have systems.” While I’m a big believer in goals, they’re not the only thing responsible for success.
Anyone can write down on a piece of paper all of the things they’re going to accomplish: the money they’ll earn, the body they’ll have, the life they’ll live. That’s all good and fair, but Adams’ point is that these goals only get accomplished through a system.
Goals get accomplished – or destroyed – by our daily habits.
We all know the guy who has been “writing his novel” for the past 10 years, with no real work to share or the “diet starts tomorrow” claim on Sunday that ends in several additional days of binge eating. These people are amateurs.
It’s not enough for Pressfield to have been writing for decades. The only way the next book is published is through a daily habit of writing. It doesn’t matter how many businesses Mark Cuban owns, he still needs to pursue a daily habit of growth. These people are professionals. What have you done for me lately?
The power is yours. We all have 24 hours. We all make hundreds, if not thousands, of choices every day from when we wake up to what we wear to how we spend our commute to work.
True professionals take these decisions seriously. They know that if they don’t make their habits, their habits will end up making them.
The question is, are you a pro or an amateur?
