The ‘1,000x Effort’ Required for Exceptional Achievement, According to Will McTighe

In a recent LinkedIn post, Will McTighe discusses the immense, often underestimated, effort required to achieve exceptional results in one’s career. McTighe shares personal anecdotes from his time at Goldman Sachs and his subsequent growth on LinkedIn to illustrate his central thesis: that becoming truly great demands significantly more work than most people anticipate.

McTighe begins by recounting his early struggles at Goldman Sachs, where he initially expected to perform well without the necessary preparation or effort. He highlights the stark reality he faced:

Becoming exceptional takes 1,000x more work than you think. At Goldman Sachs, I struggled badly in my first months. I turned up expecting to be good at it. I wasn’t.

This initial period of difficulty, McTighe explains, was a wake-up call. After receiving candid feedback from a colleague, he realized that significant changes to his work habits were necessary for survival and success. This led to a period of intense dedication and meticulous attention to detail.

The Grind of Meticulous Effort

McTighe details the unglamorous, yet critical, changes he implemented. He emphasizes that true progress often involves repetitive, detailed work that may not be immediately rewarding but is essential for building a strong foundation. He describes his commitment during this phase:

My attention to detail was rubbish, so I printed out every single piece of work and checked it on paper before it went to my boss. I stayed until 3am when the work demanded it. I had a point to prove to myself and to everyone who’d doubted me in those first few months. I did the same boring checks every day for three years.

This consistent, diligent effort, McTighe argues, eventually led to significant recognition. He notes that by his third year, he was ranked among the top associates in his cohort, a testament to the power of sustained, focused hard work.

Applying the ‘1,000x Effort’ Principle Beyond Investment Banking

The principle of requiring extraordinary effort, McTighe asserts, is not confined to his early career. He draws a parallel to his experience building his presence on LinkedIn and subsequently founding WM Media. He explains that what appears effortless from the outside is the result of years of consistent practice and a high level of attention to detail.

Building a Following Through Deliberate Practice

McTighe shares his approach to content creation on LinkedIn, treating each post as an experiment and consistently publishing daily. This dedication, he explains, was instrumental in his growth from a few thousand followers to hundreds of thousands.

When I started posting on LinkedIn, I posted 7 days a week from day one and treated every post like an experiment. That took me from 3k to 475k followers in 2.5 years.

He further elaborates on the internal reality of building a business like WM Media:

Building WM Media has been exactly the same. The output looks effortless from the outside. On the inside it’s years of reps and maniacal attention to detail. It’s a huge amount of effort. But that’s how you win.

McTighe concludes by reinforcing that achieving exceptional outcomes in any field requires a willingness to invest significantly more effort than is commonly expected. He offers a free playbook for those interested in applying these principles to their LinkedIn strategy, suggesting that dedication and meticulous execution are key to success.