The Rule of 100: Why Most People Quit Before They Win

Everyone wants a shortcut. But here's the thing: 100 days of consistent effort will put you in the top 5% of almost anything. The problem? Most people won't make it past day 12.

Noah Kagan calls it the Law of 100: do the thing 100 times before you quit. Not 10 times. Not 50. One hundred.

It sounds arbitrary. It's not.

Why 100 Is the Real Filter

The first 100 YouTube videos are supposed to suck. The first 100 cold emails teach you nothing except how to write email 101. The first 100 workouts don't transform your body—they transform your identity from "person who thinks about working out" to "person who works out."

Alex Hormozi has a line I think about constantly: "You probably just haven't done enough volume." The volume required to make something work is higher than most people realize.

Here's what happens between rep 1 and rep 100:

• Rep 1-10: Novelty phase. Everything is exciting. You're terrible but you don't know it yet.
• Rep 10-30: The suck zone. You realize you're bad. This is where 80% of people quit.
• Rep 30-60: Competence creeps in. You're not great, but you're not embarrassing yourself.
• Rep 60-100: You're actually good now. You've outlasted 95% of people who started.

Most people quit in the suck zone. They do 10 workouts, see no abs, and conclude "this doesn't work." They write 5 blog posts, get 30 views total, and decide "content doesn't work for me." They send 20 cold emails, get 2 replies, and think "outbound is dead."

The real question isn't "will this work?" It's "have you done it 100 times yet?"

The Josh Waitzkin Playbook: Compress the Timeline

Josh Waitzkin—chess prodigy, martial arts champion, subject of the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, author of The Art of Learning—wanted to learn surfing. Problem: he lived in New York City.

The average surfer gets 2-4 minutes of actual wave-riding time per session. The rest is paddling, waiting, positioning. To get good, you need reps. But the ocean doesn't cooperate.

Waitzkin's solution? Get creative about volume.

First, he bought a OneWheel electric skateboard and rode it around NYC at 20-25 mph. He was training the feeling of "glide"—the sensation of moving fast, forward, sideways. Not surfing, but close enough to build muscle memory.

Then he got an eFoil—an electric-powered hydrofoil board. Unlike a surfboard, it lets you ride waves in flat water. Suddenly, he was getting 54 minutes of wave time per session instead of 2-4 minutes.

That's not 2x the reps. It's 15-20x.

In a traditional timeline, it would take years to accumulate the wave time Josh got in months. He didn't change the rule of 100—he just compressed the timeline by finding a way to do more reps faster.

Volume + Deliberate Practice = Mastery

But here's the catch: mindless reps aren't enough.

Anders Ericsson's research on deliberate practice shows that experts don't just do more—they improve with each rep. They analyze what went wrong. They isolate weaknesses. They get feedback. (Read more in *Mastery* by Robert Greene.)

I've seen this in building. The first time you frame a wall, it takes forever and looks crooked. The second time, you're faster but still not great. By the 10th wall, you're competent. By the 100th? You could do it in your sleep.

But the people who get really good aren't just doing reps—they're asking "why did that work?" or "what went wrong here?" after each one.

The beauty of 2026? The tools to improve are everywhere:

• YouTube: Watch experts do the thing you're learning. Slow it down. Rewind. Compare your technique.
• ChatGPT/Claude: Upload a photo or video. Ask "what am I doing wrong?" Get instant feedback.
• Communities: Reddit, Discord, Twitter. Ask someone who's done it 1,000 times.
• Recording yourself: Your phone can record anything. Watch yourself back. The gap between what you think you're doing and what you're actually doing is shocking.

Josh Waitzkin didn't just ride the OneWheel mindlessly—he was studying balance, weight distribution, how to carve. Each rep was intentional.

Volume gets you in the game. Deliberate practice makes you great.

What 100 Days Actually Gets You

Let's be specific about what 100 consecutive days of focused effort can do:

Fitness: 100 days of working out = visible transformation. You won't look like a bodybuilder, but you'll look different. More importantly, you'll feel different.

Writing: 100 blog posts or tweets = you've found your voice. The first 50 are awkward. The last 50 are exponentially better.

YouTube: The conventional wisdom is your first 100 videos will suck. That's the point. By video 100, you know what works.

Cold email: 100 sends teaches you what subject lines work, what CTAs convert, what tone resonates. The first 10 replies teach you more than any course.

Coding: 100 days of building something (even small projects) = you're competent. Not expert, but functional.

• SEO: 100 articles published = you understand what ranks, what doesn't, and why. (This is literally what I'm betting on with SEOTakeoff.)

You can get into the top 1-5% of almost any skill in 100 days. Not because you're a savant. Because nobody else lasts that long.

In a World of Distraction, 100 Days Is an Edge

Here's the real insight: in 2026, the ability to focus on one thing for 100 consecutive days is a massive competitive advantage.

The average person:

• Starts a workout routine → quits after 2 weeks
• Commits to daily writing → stops after 5 posts
• Launches a side project → abandons it after the initial excitement fades

You don't need to be smarter. You don't need to be more talented. You just need to not quit.

100 days is nothing. It's barely 3 months. But it filters 99% of people.

That's the edge.

The Question That Matters

So here's the question: What could you do 100 times in the next 100 days?

Not "what do you want to do?" Not "what would be cool?" What are you actually willing to commit to 100 reps of?

Pick one thing. Track it. Don't trust your memory—use a spreadsheet, a habit tracker, a checklist on your wall.

Lower the bar if you need to. 100 push-ups is easier to commit to than 100 gym sessions. 100 tweets is easier than 100 blog posts. Start where you can actually sustain it.

The streak matters more than the intensity at first. You're not training the skill yet—you're training the habit of showing up. (More on this in The Power of Habit.)

By day 100, you'll be in the top 5%. Not because you're exceptional. Because you didn't quit.

FAQ

Q: Does it have to be 100 days in a row, or can I skip days?

A: Consecutive is better. The streak builds momentum. But if you miss a day, don't restart—just keep going. 100 total reps matters more than perfection.

Q: What if I'm doing reps wrong? Won't I just reinforce bad habits?

A: That's where deliberate practice comes in. Get feedback every 10-20 reps. Record yourself. Ask someone better than you. Adjust. The key is intentional improvement, not mindless repetition. (Gladwell's 10,000 hours rule assumes deliberate practice, not just volume.)

Q: Can I do this with multiple things at once?

A: You can, but it's harder. Focus is a competitive advantage. One thing for 100 days > three things for 30 days each.

Q: What if I pick the wrong thing?

A: You'll know by day 30-40. If it still feels forced, you picked wrong. But finishing 100 days of the "wrong thing" teaches you more than quitting 10 different things.

Q: How do I stay motivated when progress is slow?

A: Track the reps, not the results. Your job isn't to be great by day 10—it's to show up. Motivation follows action, not the other way around.

Q: What's a realistic timeline to see results?

A: Most people see noticeable progress by day 30-40. Visible transformation by day 60-80. But the real shift happens in your identity—you become someone who does the thing. Around day 60-80, you might even start experiencing flow states where the skill feels effortless.

What are you committing to 100 reps of? Let me know—I'd love to hear what you're building.