Guys. Welcome to the podcast. Today is a special solo episode that I call practice in private, rewarded in public. This is just a little something I cooked up. Been wanting to do this for a while. It's an awesome episode. You're gonna wanna share it with friends and with others, and it's not just a pharma or MSL episode. This is really for anyone. So I really hope you guys enjoy it. And I have an announcement. It's time to sign up for another awesome medical affairs event.
So check out the medical affairs excellence summit, the max summit 2024, and that's gonna be at Harrah's in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Awesome event. You guys definitely are gonna wanna check this out, and the way you do so is go to Max Summit 2024. And this is an event by Momentum Events. So definitely give this a shot, guys. I'll be there. I'd love to see you in my home state of New Jersey.
Max Summit 2024. Welcome to MSL talk with Tom Caravella, a podcast specifically designed for MSLs and all things field medical. Okay, guys. Let's get into it. I'm super excited about this topic. Before I start, I just wanna mention that this episode is sponsored also by MSL Mastery for MSLs and aspiring MSLs that are looking for coaching and online courses and just help in your career. If you're an aspiring MSL, we have a program for you looking to break into the MSL profession.
We also have presentation courses, resume writing courses. Go to mslmastery.com for more information. So you guys are probably wondering, what is this topic all about? What does this mean? Practice in private, rewarded in public. This was inspired by a story that I heard. I don't really remember where I saw it, but I'm gonna throw a lot of statistics and numbers at you guys. But I I want you to follow along. I don't necessarily think you need to take notes per se at this point, maybe later.
But right now, I hope you enjoy this story. So I'm inspired by the story of Stephane Curry. So I'm not a basketball fan. You guys may know I have a wrestling background. Wrestlers don't really make good basketball players because we're too short, and the seasons always happen at the same time. So don't ask me to play on your on your basketball team. But I have a lot of appreciation for athletes of all kinds. And the story of Stephane Curry is is it's an amazing but really interesting story.
So if you don't know who he is, Stephen Curry is the greatest 3 point shooter in the history of basketball. It it's not even an argument. No one has come close. He has been successful 3,747 times. He has made 3,747 3 pointers. Now the so here's the question. Like, was he just born to be a 3 point shooter? Was it in his DNA? Is this just the way this guy is? Is he made up for that? The answer is no. He created it.
He manufactured it. Statistically, Stephane Curry is known for taking 500 practice shots per day, every single day, 7 days a week for his entire adult life and most of his teens. Now he's been in the league for 15 years. But if you do the math, if you take 500 shots a day, that equals 14,000 shots a month. That's a 168,000 shots per year and over the course of 15 years just in his professional career.
That equals 2,520,000 shots that he's taken in practice so that he could make 3,747 shots when it counts and become the greatest in the history of the sport. What Stephane Curry did in practice, he was celebrated in public. This concept doesn't just apply to Stephane Curry. It applies to anyone in any career or quite frankly in any area of your life. What you practice when you put in the reps, what you put your time into, what you focus on is what you're gonna get out of life.
So let's look at another scenario that goes alongside with this concept. It's just explained differently, but I wanna share this with you as well because this is really, really super powerful. And you may have heard of this before. It's called the rule of 100. The rule of 100 states that if you spend 100 hours a year, which is 18 minutes a day, in any discipline, you will become better than 95% of the people in the world at that discipline.
And this theory really applies to, like, I think anything. It could be, you know, the guitar. It could be sports. It could be art history. It could be nutrition, economics. But the crazy thing is 18 minutes a day doesn't really seem like that much of a commitment. But over 365 days, that's 6,570 minutes, and that's a 109.5 hours. But here's the thing. Let's say you miss 1 or 2 days a week. Let's say you miss weekends.
Let's say that you just don't take time on weekends to do this 18 minutes towards whatever. That means that you now drop from a 109.5 hours per year to 78 hours. That's significant. Now that's just missing weekends. So let's say you miss weekends and you miss vacations. Let's say that your vacation time equals 15 days per year. That's 4.5 hours. Now you're at 73.5.
And let's just say you miss holidays because, you know, who wants to do their extra 18 minutes of whatever it is, studying or practicing or whatever on holidays? So now that's another let's just say it's 12 days a year. Now you're at 70 hours. So in a in the blink of an eye, what seemed really easy, almost easy, 18 minutes a day, which equals a 109 hours, just in basic weekends and vacation time and holidays, it goes down to 70. You go from a 100 and almost a 110 to 70.
Now I I would think that that's still a good commitment. I don't think that's terrible commitment. The point of the matter is when you can commit to a certain amount of time, a certain amount of practice, a certain amount of reps, a certain amount of activity on a consistent basis and you don't miss or you're super, super consistent, you have to see results. You have to see some success. It's just really the kind of the law of it's the rules of nature.
Ultimately, the problem is we as humans get distracted. We as humans make excuses. We as humans have bad days or we get burnt out. I mean, Stephane Curry, if you think about it, that's pretty remarkable from what I've been told. He never missed a day. It was 500 practice shots a day. Just imagine if you had to eat the same food every day for your whole life. When you get sick of it, when you get tired of it, when there be days you were just like, ah, I'm not doing this. I don't wanna do it.
I'm good enough. I got it. I think I got this. I don't need the 500 shots. No. Not Stephane Curry. Not him. He would he wouldn't have it. So now how do we apply this principle? How do we apply this concept to our own lives, to our own careers? What's the formula? Well, I broke it down into 4 steps. And, guys, you know I'm big on I'm big on process. If anyone's read my book, you watch this podcast or listen to this podcast long enough, you know that I'm a very process oriented guy.
You know that I'm a very disciplined guy, and I I do often that's why I love to do these podcasts, these solo podcasts, because I wanna share some of the stuff that I've learned that's helped me, whether it's in my career or in my personal life, by sharing habits, you know, processes, and, you know, just life hacks, quite frankly.
And looking at the 6 this this hundred hour rule, looking at the Stephane Curry story, it it breaks down pretty simply into a I'm gonna talk about this 4 step process that anyone can follow. Anyone can do this. You just have to make the commitment to do it. So fur step 1, first thing, most important is you have to have a mission. You have to have a clear defined goal, a purpose. You you have to know what it is that you ultimately want.
Stephane Curry wanted to be the best 3 point shooter in the history of the game, And he devised a system. He devised a plan to do it, and he went out and did it. So what do you wanna do? What do you wanna do in your career? What do you wanna do in your personal life? Is there a skill that you wanna develop? Is there a job that you want to obtain? A lot of people that listen to this podcast want to become a medical science liaison. Okay. What's your plan? How do you plan to do that?
It's not easy. We all know how difficult that is. Maybe you're an MSL, and you wanna get promoted to a manager. Maybe you wanna get into medical excellence. You wanna be a medical science liaison trainer. How are you gonna do it? So first, you have to know what that is. You have to develop or or know what the mission is. You have to be really clear about that mission and make that your purpose.
The second thing is you have to develop a plan, and this is really important because without a plan, there is no there are no reps. You can't just wake up one day and just say, okay. I'm alright. I have a I have I have mission. I have a goal. You gotta know what the reps are, and you don't just try to come up with this on your own. One of the biggest, biggest pieces of advice that I can give you is don't develop a plan on your own. Get help. Find a mentor. Find an expert.
Find out what the right plan might be. I have to imagine that Stephon Curry probably spoke to many people, had coaches, maybe he pulled Michael Jordan aside. You know, these these pros all talk and, you know, Michael Jordan had Tim Grover, it's the notorious story is Michael Jordan had his own personal coach Aside from his coaches for the Chicago Bulls and and whatever else, Tim Grover was his peak performance coach, and he held him accountable to a different standard.
If you haven't read the book, relentless, it's awesome. It's a Tim Grover book. It's all about Michael Jordan and and not not just Michael Jordan, but a lot of professional athletes and how he helped them be successful. The point is there are people that have come before you, gone before you, and did the same thing. So find out what was their plan. You know, it's funny, but in our coaching program, we have something called Aspire MSL, which is an online course for aspiring MSLs.
It's a step by step guide. And people pay a lot of money for this program. They commit to doing it because they wanna become MSLs. The the crazy thing is we're telling these people what to do, and there's often people that join the program, and they don't do it. They don't execute on the plan. They don't actually even turn it on. We could see the progress of all the students in the course, and we can see who's halfway through, who's all the way through, who hasn't started yet.
And there are people that say they wanna do something, but they never even set up a plan nor do they even start the plan. So the very first thing after you determine what it is that you wanna do, you have to figure out what that plan is. And the third thing, and this is probably the most important piece of the whole entire equation, is you have to execute on that plan with consistency. There has to be discipline in order for there to be success. Say that again.
There has to be discipline in order for there to be success. I don't care if we're talking about a diet. I don't care if we're talking about learning how to play the guitar. I don't care if we're talking about becoming an MSL. You have to be consistent in executing on the plan or that plan won't be successful. If Stephane Curry decided, you know what? I'm gonna take a couple weeks off. I think I got this down. I'm okay. I don't need to do this anymore. He wouldn't be Stephane Curry.
Probably not. I don't know. I mean, I can't say that for sure. But the whole point of that story is the consistency, is the discipline. It's the 2,500,000. You don't get the 2,500,000 unless you do the 500 per day for 15 years. So and it's funny. You have a choice. Let's just put it this way. Everyone has a choice of how consistent or disciplined they wanna be. And I think you need to make the decision before you start a plan like this. Are you ready? Do you really want this?
How much of a desire do you have for the mission? Because if you don't really have a strong desire for this purpose and for this mission, you're probably not gonna be committed to the consistency and the discipline that it's going to take to get you to your goal. So there's a part of this includes a little bit of self reflection and accountability to make sure that you have the right motivations to do this.
And then the last thing, number 4 and you guys have heard me talk about this before because I'm pretty big on this, and I I did an episode on intention, my intention daily intention strategy. It's it's episode 86. It's from a long time ago. And number 4 is you have to have an attitude of expectancy. You have to expect to win. You have to expect to find success. You have to anticipate and expect that you're going to accomplish your mission.
Because if you don't go at this with a level of expectancy, then you're not gonna have the continued motivation and discipline because you're not ever really receiving it. Let me explain what I mean. When you live with expectancy and you anticipate that you're gonna get to your goal, start to receive it in your mind. Visualize what it's going to feel like when you get there, when you put the 109 hours in, when you're super proficient in something, when you become an expert in something.
I have a buddy. His his son learned how to play the guitar online. Never took a lesson in person with anyone. He just started searching online, took, like, an online course on how to learn how to play the guitar. This dude plays everything. He hasn't even been doing it that long. He plays everything. How satisfied do you think that kid is? He's a young kid. He's, like, 22 years old. Like, how satisfied do you think that is that he'd just pick up a guitar and start playing music?
But start to visualize what it's gonna feel like. If you're an aspiring MSL and you're doing the reps, you have a plan, you're consistent, you're doing all the things that you need to do, you're doing your LinkedIn connection request, you're applying to positions, you're going on interviews, you're networking, you're doing informational interviews, you're doing all the things, Start to visualize what it's gonna feel like when you get that offer letter.
Start to visualize what's it gonna feel like when that direct deposit hits your account, and you're now getting paid as an MSL. You're an MSL. Imagine what it's gonna feel like when you get on that first flight to go out to see your KOLs. And then you're gonna walk into that office. And just think about you meeting with KOLs or presenting to a group. Start visualizing that. Because when you visualize, when you have a sense of expectancy, you receive. You start to receive it. You believe it.
If you don't believe it and if you don't start to receive it, it's going to affect the level of commitment and discipline and your ability to do the reps consistently. So there's 4 things that I've said, oh, well, this is the most important. I think all 4 are probably equally as important when all is said and done, but if you don't ultimately or if you're not consistent, if you don't do it, nothing's ever gonna happen. But the other pieces fit in the equation like a puzzle.
Those 4 pieces are like a puzzle. If you could put them together, I'm not saying you're gonna be Stephane Curry. There's only 1 Stephane Curry. But whatever it is that you really, in your heart, want to do, what you want to be, it's going to get you there, or at the very least, it's gonna start getting you closer to there. And I I know I'm saying that you can be an expert in any discipline if you put in 18 minutes a day, a 109 hours a year.
I can't tell you how long it's gonna take to, for example, land an MSL position or to become an expert in nutrition or a guitar. I'm giving you the stats that I've been taught, that I've seen happen. I think you should give it a try. I think you owe it to yourself to figure out what is it that you really want to do. What's important to you? What would you like to have happen in your life? And then try this plan. Follow this plan. See. You got nothing to lose, really.
I mean, you're you're gonna make an investment in yourself by taking this initiative, by by trying this. But I I want you to know whatever it is that you guys ultimately want and decide to do, just make the commitment to action. Commit to action. Talk to people. Seek out help. Look for mentors. Get advice. I truly believe that this system will work. I've used it myself in many areas. Maybe not to the exact extent of everything that I'm saying.
But now that I learned this, I I can't wait to start to apply it. But I I I just I love this stuff, and I hope it helps. I hope it helps you guys. I hope you do it. I hope you share this with others, and I hope it makes a big, big difference in your life. And if it does, reach out to me. Reach out to me on LinkedIn. I invite you guys. I love what I hear from you guys on LinkedIn, and I know sometimes the messages get buried.
It takes me a little while to get back to you, but I I typically try to get back to everyone. So let me know how you're doing. Let me know if this works for you. Again, I always, always, always appreciate every single one of you for your support of this show. Thank you for sharing it with others. And, certainly, like I said, keep in touch, keep following on LinkedIn, and kick ass, man. I am so freaking psyched for what's ahead.
We have a lot to look forward to, and I just I can't wait to celebrate in your success. So keep in touch. Thank you so much for listening to the show. If you've enjoyed it, please subscribe so that you don't miss episodes in the future, and feel free to leave a rating or a review or a comment. Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing you again soon.