I’m getting a lot of good coaching from my kickboxing trainer—the wisdom just keeps on coming.  Here’s what she offered today:  “You don’t have to punch hard all the time. The whole point is to set up the killer punch. Try small jabs, hooks, upper cuts until you find the opportunity for the killer punch. You can’t throw the killer punch every time. You build toward it.”

It made me think about progress in life and career; it takes an accumulation of small, directed actions before you get the big opportunity—the killer punch. You just don’t get the big successes every day.

For me, the small jabs are all the tough, relentless details of my work. My killer punch would be a breakthrough creatively and technically; writing a perfect piece of prose. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m jabbing away by writing and rewriting and taking a disciplined approach to my craft.

What’s your killer punch?  And how are you setting it up?