The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of the World's Most Productive Achievers

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FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE

The common denominator of success—the secret of every person who has ever been successful—lies in the fact that they formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.

—ALBERT E. N. GRAY

Eliud Kipchoge holds the official world record for the marathon at 2:01:39. Of the 13 officially sanctioned marathons that Kipchoge has run, he’s won 11. He is the only known person to ever run the 26.2 miles of a marathon in under two hours (in an unsanctioned event).¹ In the running community, Kipchoge is called “The GOAT” (greatest of all time).

Born in Kenya, he was raised by a single mother and only knew his father from pictures. He did not start training seriously until he graduated from secondary school in 1999. So ...