Marginal Gains
One of the best caveats that I learned from reading James Clear’s Atomic Habits book is “In order to make big gains, avoid tiny losses”1. I used to go almost every weekend to Bahrain international circuit to race using the 22hp go-kart. Even when I don’t go to the circuit, I use my own simulation racing gear to race online. The most beautiful thing I’ve realized from racing is that championships are won by the persistent pursuit of small margins.
Every millisecond in your laptime matters. Every small movement matters. Even your diet matters as it helps in gaining milliseconds that would have otherwise been lost because of heavy weight2. As I practiced day in and day out, I began to see how insisting on gaining small margins despite how insignificant they may seem in one lap, they add up to 2-3 seconds over the course of a full race. In motorsports, 2-3 seconds are like years; You can gain 4-5 positions just by accumulating those small milliseconds. I began to follow the racing principles in my daily life. I seek small daily gains as I know that eventually they will add up to something huge. Even if I don’t have time to read, I read 3 pages as I know if I stop pursuing those small gains, I will lose my appetite for the big gains over time.
When I think about the biggest idea that shifted my prespective over the past couple of years, I think of the pursuit of marginal gains, everywhere, and all the time.