My weekly trampoline class starts at 9 am. It’s a 30-minute commute by subway, and I like to get there early to warm up before I get on the trampoline.
Sometimes, it’s a big deal for me to arrive even a few minutes early. I move slowly in the mornings, and it’s a lot of effort. But giving myself proper space to activate my muscles and do some mobility work is important to me. So each week, I try to push myself to arrive a little earlier.
Today, I felt great about my effort, arriving at 8:10 am. I was looking forward to having extra time for ample conditioning before trampoline practice.
Except… the door to the Trapeze School New York tent was locked. Nobody was there yet. I was too early.
Arriving somewhere too early is not something that I’m used to in most areas of my life. For most of my life, I’ve been known as the late one. My family has sometimes given me fake times so I’ll show up on time.
(Tip: this trick only works the first time, and guarantees that the person you trick will forever be late in the future.)
The staff person who opens the tent arrived within a few minutes. But my early tendencies continued during my practice.
When it comes to trampoline, this seems to be a consistent pattern for me, both on and off the trampoline.
The Consequence of Acting Too Early
Here’s the consequence: initiating a movement too early on the trampoline makes it much more difficult to execute cleanly. Sometimes it makes it hard to do the skill at all.
When you try to do a skill too early, you must work harder. Also, in some skills “travel” — ie you don’t stay in one spot. This can get scary if you’re twisting and coming close to the edge of the trampoline bed.
This is also true in flying trapeze. One of the first lessons you’ll learn in a flying trapeze class is that initiating movements too early makes it harder, if not impossible, to do them.
In both cases it sets up unnecessary fight with gravity. That’s a losing battle. One of the skills I train in trampoline and trapeze is how to work with gravity.
When you work with gravity — wait for the proper timing — you get better results with less effort.
This doesn’t mean you don’t have to put in the work. On the trampoline and on the trapeze, there’s no luxury or slacking off. Losing focus one split second can cause injury. You must remain fully engaged.
It’s a question of when to invest your effort, when to initiate, and when to arrive.
With the right timing, you get a better outcome.
Who doesn’t want that?
What Does This Mean For You?
So I realize you might be thinking,
That’s great. But that doesn’t apply to real life. In real life it’s important to be early.
That’s the myth. It’s a belief held by many people. But it’s not true.
As I say often: circus is life.
This is about the laws of physics.
Last time I checked, every activity on this planet is subject to those laws.
Whether you’re on a trampoline, on a flying trapeze, on a surfboard, baking cookies, marketing a new product, selling a home, or sharing a new idea, the same principles apply.
You get no points for being early. Being too early requires you put in more work for lesser results – or no results.
What Happens When You Act Too Early
A baseball player who swings too early strikes out.
If you take a cake out of the oven too early the cake falls apart.
If you harvest fruit or vegetables too early they won’t be edible yet.
A surfer who tries to stand up on the board too early will get knocked over.
I understand you might be thinking, again, these are not “real life.” Because by “real life” you mean “work” or “business.”
Well, if you make your living as a baseball player, baker, chef, farmer, or surfer these scenarios are very real to you.
If you show up too early for a dinner reservation, you must wait for your table.
Showing up too early to a party in someone’s home is rude (unless the host asked you to come early to help set up).
Arrive too early for a class and you may not have a place to wait.
This principle applies equally in the world of business and ideas.
Remember the Newton? It was the first personal digital assistant, developed and marketed by Apple in the 1990s. It never really took off and the Palm Pilot overshadowed it. Even the Palm Pilot never got the traction that later came to the iPhone, iPad, and the current generation of smartphones and tablets. Both were ideas ahead of their time. They were too early.
Pets.com and the other businesses of the dot-com era were all early versions of businesses that went on to become extremely profitable. What was wrong with them?
They were too early. Ahead of their time. Ahead of the right timing.
The Right Time is Not a Static Point
None of this is to imply that there’s only one “right” time. You can think of “right timing” as a window, or a season.
The most effective time to act is within that window.
A big part of our task in life is learning the parameters of that window for whatever we want to do, whether it’s waking up, working out, or launching the next big business idea.
If you’re too early you’ll work hard for little results. Act within the window and watch your results come with greater ease.
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