I have a single quote hanging above my desk:

"The difference between good and great is 5%"

It's been hanging there for about 2 years, but it wasn't until a Wednesday evening about 12 months ago that it really resonated with me.

I was sitting at my desk, 3 days away from a final interview at Microsoft.

I didn't want to interview at Microsoft.

I had been on over 20 interviews in the past 2 months and I was exhausted. I just wanted to be done.

I had some offers on the table already, what could Microsoft offer me that other companies of the same caliber hadn't?

My plan was to walk in, wing it, and walk out. I had my basic answers down, I'd done this enough times. I would be good.

Good...

I looked up and saw it:

"The difference between good and great is 5%."

That's when it hit me.

I didn't want to settle for "good." I wanted to be great. I deserved to be great. On this interview and in everything else I choose to do.

So I sat back down and I gave it 5 more percent. Which actually turned out to be more like 20%, because if you can sit down and give something 5 minutes it usually turns into 30+.[1]

Two hours after I walked out of that job interview, I was handed an offer worth 50% more than anything any other company had proposed. That job also turned out to be the best opportunity I ever had.

5% turned into 50+.

About 6 months later, when I was launching my online business, I was writing an article on How To Get A Job With No Connections. My strategy was to use a single piece packed full of information to drive business.

I brainstormed, I wrote, I cited, and I edited a 2,500 word post. When I was done, I sat back and read it.

It was good.

I didn't want good.

So I went back and gave it another 5%, which turned out to be another 2,500 words.

Within 24 hours of publishing that article it got:

    Over 600 shares on LinkedIn & Facebook
    Shared by some of the top influencers in my niche
    More email subscribers than any other strategy I had used

I know for a fact that those bullets would not have happened without the extra 5%.

Next time you are working on a project, getting in shape, working on your relationship, or whatever it may be - remember:

"The difference between good and great is 5%."

A quote I particularly like,

“Every morning in Africa, when a Gazelle wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up, it knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

Tells you the truth about globalisation and regardless of which side of the fence you're on, you better start running.

A quote I particularly like,

“Every morning in Africa, when a Gazelle wakes up, it knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up, it knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle... when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”

Tells you the truth about globalisation and regardless of which side of the fence you're on, you better start running.

I used to browse and read stories on Quora alot, this is one of my many bookmarked favourites.