The 110% Rule

What separates those of us who are successes in our lives and those of us who just don't quite achieve the things that we set out to do? As it turns out, the differences are not that huge. But part of the answer lay in our level of commitment to doing whatever it is going to take to achieving our personal goals. One must observe The 110% Rule. That rule states that:

Whatever we set out to do in life, we have to give it everything we have and then some. We should start out by giving 110% of what we are capable of giving in terms of effort, commitment and self-discipline, and then go from there.

What a concept! Setting our starting point at 110%. Too much to ask of anyone, you say? However the truth is that if you look at the true successes of our society, that is exactly the working standard that they set for themselves. The true test of any particular "Truth" is whether or not it actually works in the real world. Ruthie Henshall, one of the brightest stars on Broadway and the West End in London will tell you that it does.

In a letter to her fans, on her website, she wrote,

"There is no sure-fire way to 'make it' in show business, but having talent is probably a good start!...For me, the most important thing you will ever need is commitment. Commitment to being the best you can. Commitment to whatever job you're doing. Commitment, and wanting it more than anything else. For years I did everything I could: shows, charity shows, helping out friends, so for seventeen years I have really given my career my all."

Our society tends to look to the lowest common denominator for its standards. The rock stars of today don't necessarily need to know how to sing or compose or even play an instrument well to go platinum. In this country, the quality of television programming has gone from low to even lower. Cultural literacy in this country has sunk to such all time lows that Jay Leno's Jaywalking feature sadly mirrors the true state of affairs. For many people, this is the standard which they think they should be using as the benchmark for their own lives. Is this really the benchmark that you and I want to be using as we set out to make something of ourselves in this lifetime? I don't think so.

Ruthie Henshall continued:

"I come from a school of training where you do everything full out until told to mark it, and it makes me sad when I see the new school of thought which is mark it until told to do it full out."

Whenever Miss Henshall has performed, you can tell the difference in the quality of her work. For my money, her portrayal of Roxie, in Chicago the Musical, sets the benchmark for how that role should be played. In the show in tribute to Cameron MacIintosh, Hey Mr. Producer, she performed "You Gotta Have a Gimmick', from Gypsy, with such notable performers as Bernadette Peters. Of the three performers, only Miss Henshall was fully in character and fully committed to the song and the dancing was wonderful. In Putting It Together, a revue of the songs of Stephen Sondheim, she performed the song, "More," from the movie, Dick Tracy. Her presentation, her characterization, her singing, her passion, her utter commitment to the character in the song were simply over the top. It was breathtaking to watch her perform. When she says that she starts out with doing everything full out, she means it and that commitment has richly earned her a place as a stellar artist of the musical stage.

We can look at her life and her achievements and get a pretty good sense of what each of us needs to be doing. Ruthie Henshall is but one of so many, many people who have distinguished themselves in the arts, in the sciences, in government, in education and the social sciences. Their lives and their successes exemplify why we must fully make the 110% rule a keystone of our own set of values. This particular rule works best if we can make it a part of our personal credo early in our lives. We can only realize our true potential if we start out with the best that we have to give and then see how much higher we can go from there. If we don't always reach our goals, at least we will have tried. At any rate we will have gone a hell of lot further than we ever thought we would.

This life is not a dress rehearsal. It is the real thing. We have only one shot at becoming the person we were meant to be... at accomplishing the things that we are capable of achieving. So we have to hit the road running. We have to set the starting expectations of ourselves at 110% of what we have to give. Most of all, we have to remember that the only person that we are ever competing with is ourself.