Contrary to popular belief, the best runners are often not the ones who run the most. Consequently, the best athletes are the ones who train the smartest and do all the supplemental exercises to make them stronger and less injury-prone. However, running is just a metaphor for a much larger picture I am trying to convey. The path to extraordinary success is never the obvious one. In fact, the path does not exist yet because, in order to be extraordinary, you have to do something that has not been done before. You have to carve your own path if you want to be better than all the people before you because you already know where their paths end up. In essence, if you ever find yourself struggling for motivation, fulfillment or advancement in life, look to find new baby steps that can slowly progress you along.

Another example is starting a business. You have spent your whole life developing the best possible product on the market for a good in high demand. However, the sales plateau and you don't know why. My advice is to try supplemental exercises such as networking and advertising. Neither one will make a business succeed on its own, but each are added elements that have potential to combine into a massive success.

Depending on the generation you are from, you have probably been taught different methods of achieving similar goals. Older ways of thinking are very simple and specific to the problem at hand. For example, if you are overweight and want to lose weight, then don't eat (as much) and exercise more. On the other hand, contemporary beliefs take into account the person's lifestyle as a whole, including their circumstances. For example, in the same situation, the new way of thinking is to advise the overweight person to eat healthier and give that person realistic exercise goals for long term improvement.

The same new way of thinking goes for elite athletes. It is no longer enough to just play basketball a lot to be the best basketball player, or run the most to be the best runner. Each athlete needs to do the small steps such as stretching, foam rolling, ice bathing, lifting, agility work, swimming, biking, cross training, sleeping and finding innovative ways for creative improvement. Just practicing your sport for 10,000 hours used to be enough to make you the best. However, now it just puts you on par with people who have already become the best.

In order to be extraordinary and better than the best from the past, you have to do more. Put in the 10,000 hours of work, but also go down your own path of innovative training. People have already carved paths in the wilderness to find how to be the best in their generation, but it's up to you to find a new path that gets you farther down the road to be the best in history.