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Writer's pictureDillan Taylor

What chicken sandwiches teach us about success



I started a biweekly mastermind with one of my best friends. The purpose is to share our goals, help each other with obstacles, and make each other cry.


Our first meeting was last week. It was a doozy.


He helped me create a system for caring for my sleep, diet, and exercise while backpacking through South America this fall.


But diving into his projects made me think of Chic-Fil-A. Let me explain.


 

Alex Hormozi has a cheesy video about his love for the chicken franchise. A few insights are:

  • Chic-Fil-A makes more money than Mcdonald's, Starbucks, and Subway combined.

  • They've never had a down year in 76 years of business.

  • They sell a quarter of the amount of items of any other fast-food franchise.

Whether you're a fan of their religious/political leanings or not, the success of their business model can't be denied.


There are a plethora of reasons that explain the company's dominance. But we'll focus on one for the sake of this post.


While every other chain tries to follow trends, mimic competitors, and appeal to more customers...Chic-Fil-A does something different.


They pick one thing, do it for a long time, and do it better than anyone else.


In 1946, founder Truett Cathy decided he would build a restaurant that sold the best chicken sandwiches on the planet while maintaining Christian values.


Since then, Chic-Fil-A has only sold chicken products. It's also been closed every single Sunday. They set a standard, stuck to it despite temptations to stray, and built a brand of authenticity and high-quality food.


So what does this have to do with my friend?


 

When I asked my buddy what he's been working on, he dove into all his current projects...

  1. publishing and marketing a book he wrote for an athletics startup

  2. writing and producing his own music

  3. sharpening his digital marketing skills for his job

  4. uploading YouTube videos on health and wellness

  5. shipping the board game he's been working on

  6. interviewing guests on his podcast

I asked what kind of feedback he was looking for. He told me to give it to him straight.


"Okay," I started. "You're working on way too many things."


"You're a super driven and skillful person. But you're trying to get 20 things done at once, which means you're not getting anything done. A year from now, you could be a little better at each of these things. Or you could commit to one (maybe two) and be one of the best at it."


The only reason I was so confident in this advice was because it's advice I have to give myself on a regular basis.


Luckily, it landed well with him. We talked through it and he decided to let most of his priority list go for now.


"I can always come back to these things whenever I want," he added.


 

1% of successful people are prodigies, wunderkinds, and freaks of nature. When we remove them from the equation, we see what the other 99% have in common.


They focus on one thing for an unreasonable amount of time.


Daniel Day-Lewis (pictured above) is known by many as one of the greatest actors of all time.


He's a mysterious man who has shown no interest in celebrity or stardom in his decades of stage and film acting. He declines most interviews. His intense method acting has him live and breathe as his character for months until the movie is done shooting.


Daniel Day-Lewis chose acting.


Chic-Fil-A chose chicken sandwiches.


Serena Williams chose tennis.


Warren Buffet chose investing.


Adele chose singing.


My coach Carlos Catania chose jiujitsu.


We want to be great at the things we find interesting. And we can be. We just need to be willing to outlast our feelings of inadequacy and boredom.


The best car washing business in the world isn't the best because it's maximized its side hustles, optimized the SEO for its website, or designed the prettiest NFT.


It just washes people's cars easily and quickly, gives excellent customer service, and has been doing so reliably for a long time.


Again, this is advice I'm trying to internalize myself.


I've been acting as though my coaching skills are maxed out. So I've been wandering off and working on creative projects. Writing, podcasting, event planning.


But I haven't even begun to peak. When I do peak, you'll know.


I'll be dialing in my focus on coaching at the highest level so I can change the trajectory of people's lives. And charge a firm fee to do so.


So let me ask you: If you could be the best in the world at one thing, what would it be? How long have you been doing that thing?


Get to work.


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