I Skate to Where the Puck is Going, Not to Where it Has Been

I’m a huge proponent of self-improvement and growth. The idea of making small improvements compounds over time and can become extremely meaningful.

Let me give you an example:
​Most people would agree that typically making a 1% improvement isn’t much of an improvement. And I would agree. On the other end of the spectrum, a 100% or 200% or even 1,000% improvement is quite substantial.

However, what if you are able to make many 1% improvements over time, this is where things get quite interesting. Assume you are able to make a 1% improvement everyday for just 1 year. How much do you think you would improve?

50%
100%
365%

These would all be great improvements, but the actual answer would be a 3,788% improvement. At the end of a year you would be over 37 times better than you were when you started. All from just a 1% improvement every day. The formula is: (1 + 0.01) ^ 365

This is an example of the power of compound growth. Einstein has been attributed to saying, “compound interest (growth) is the 8th wonder of the world.” And even if he didn’t say it, I’m sure he would agree with this idea.

Compound growth is incredibly powerful and is quite possibly under appreciated by most people outside of mathematicians and athletes. One such person who I’m confident understands the power of continuous improvement is Wayne Gretzky.

It truly is hard to comprehend just how great Wayne Gretzky was on the ice. He made the All-National Hockey League First-Team 8 times, holds the record for most points all-time, most points in a season, most all-time assists, youngest player to score 50 points, most game winning goals in play-offs, and the list goes on and on. He retired in 1999 and STILL holds 60 records in the NHL. And if you can’t remember all his amazing records, you can just call him by his moniker, “The Great One.”

He understood the idea of continuous improvement, hard work, and living a fulfilled life. Here are some of his own words on these subjects.

• Only one thing is ever guaranteed, that is that you will definitely not achieve the goal if you don't take the shot.
• No matter who you are, we're creatures of habit. The better your habits are, the better they will be in pressure situations.
• The highest compliment that you can pay me is to say that I work hard every day, that I never dog it.
• Not doing it is certainly the best way to not getting it.
• I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.
• The day I stop learning is the day I stop growing.
• It's kind of ironic when I broke in at 17, I was told I was too small, too slow and I wouldn't make the NHL
• A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.
• Procrastination is one of the most common and deadliest of diseases and its toll on success and happiness is heavy.
• You'll never catch me bragging about goals, but I'll talk all you want about my assists.
• I missed 100% of the shots I didn't take
• Maybe it wasn't the talent the Lord gave me-maybe it was the passion.
• One hundred percent of shots not taken don't go in.
• I couldn't beat people with my strength; I don't have a hard shot; I'm not the quickest skater in the league. My eyes and my mind have to do most of the work.
• The Power of WHO provides great lessons about how to succeed in business and in life. If you surround yourself with quality people and great friends, the sky's the limit.
• It's easier to lose than to win.
• It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what other people think. You have to get on the ice and participate and play and the best team wins.
• Sometimes people ask, 'Are hockey fights real?' I say, 'If they weren't, I'd get in more of them.
• I think that from the time you start playing sports as a child you see that your responsibility to your team is to play the best that you can play as an individual... and yet, not take anything away from being part of a team.
• When I was 5 and playing against 11-year-olds, who were bigger, stronger, faster, I just had to figure out a way to play with them.
• Everything I did in hockey, I worked for.

We all can't be Wayne Gretzky, but we can strive to take his ideas and incorporate them in our lives.


-Paul R. Rossi, CFA