Theory of Minimum, Average, and Maximum Output: Achieving Your Goals
There are several approaches you can take if you set a goal, develop a new habit, or build a strategy for your life.
Targeting the minimum output is the first strategy
The key is to continually try to do something, even if it’s just a tiny bit so that in the end, you’ll have accomplished enough to make it matter. Example – practicing meditation for ten minutes each day.
Targeting the average output is the second strategy
Here, the emphasis is on establishing a target that, even if you don’t always hit it, will ultimately have a significant impact. For example – try reading two books per month, or working out four times per week.
A last strategy is to concentrate on producing the most
Spend your effort overcoming a particular, challenging hurdle that will propel you to a higher level.
When Must You Pay Attention to the Minimum?
You must compare these techniques to the current state of affairs to understand where each one performs well. In minimum-focused projects, there is no status quo. This is what will happen by default and in the vast majority of situations.
Focusing on a minimum makes the assumption that the challenge is in the beginning. Setting lower thresholds for effort will enable you to start a behavior or effort when starting is the most difficult part of the process.
For forming reliable, enduring habits, minimum targeting is particularly effective. It also functions when the current state requires little to no effort. It finally makes sense when starting an attempt is the biggest challenge.
When Should You Aim for the Average?
Many objectives are created by attempting to elicit an average investment, as opposed to minimums. However, there is more to this strategy than just how much effort you put in. It differs from a minimum. Instead, it’s how you phrase the objective.
When input is not a problem, concentrating on the average can make sense. The advantages of minimal habits are lesser if you are already working towards your objective or if it is always on your mind. Instead of setting a minimum, you’re currently attaining, you could want to press for it if the status quo is not negligible.
However, aiming for the average has the long term in mind. Even if it’s not always an effortless and reliable output, you want to maintain something. When you were already making a significant amount of effort, want to increase that effort, and want to keep your focus on the long term, average-targeting works effectively.
When Should You Pay Close Attention?
The benefit of concentrating as much as possible is that it can increase your potential. Numerous potential growth areas show signs of friction, suggesting that they won’t be realized without a significant amount of effort, careful planning, and probable frustration.
This tactic is best exemplified via deliberate practice. You can improve by placing an uncomfortable amount of emphasis on quality, focusing on particular performance facets, and receiving honest feedback. If you don’t intentionally seek for this effort, such a peak learning condition is less likely to occur.
Focusing on getting to the top has the drawback of frequently not being sustainable. High-intensity spurts rarely result in steady, long-lasting habits. Maximum-targeting efforts demand all of your focus and effort; they cannot be carried out casually in the background.
When there is a benefit to achieving higher degrees of intensity or when other obstacles prevent advancement without such intensity, maximum targeting is effective. Once the burst has passed, they function well with either continued obsession or a deliberate shift to average or less targeted goals.
Concluding Thoughts
The art of minimum targeting is to be patient, and persistent, and to make little efforts that add up to big results. The technique of average targeting is carrying on as you have been, but expecting more of yourself and carrying on over a longer period of time. Maximum targeting is like a sprint that can move mountains but can’t go on forever