Darwin is a cool guy.  I like the idea that the fittest wins:
•    I study longer for my test, so I get a better grade than you.
•    I swim faster than you, so I get more medals than you do.
•    I work harder than you do, so I get more clients than you do.

In terms of overall success though, how does this play out?
If I study and swim and work 24 hours out of 24 hours, is that efficient for me?  I may beat   you at EVERYTHING, but I’m probably not going to be happy.  Eventually there is a threshold which I will pass, and at this point my efforts will peak and my performance will begin to decline.  I might burn out, hurt myself, or exhaust all of my resources too quickly.

Seeing that doing everything amazing well may not be efficient, how else could we go about “being the fittest” and “surviving”, without doing everything the longest, or the fastest, or the hardest?

It’s all in efficiency.
I can study for 18 hours for my investments exam, but if I’m only studying the correct material for 2 of those hours, tell me – is this going to lead me to success?  Probably not.  Same goes for swimming and working.  If I’m swimming every single lap at my fastest pace, what is this going to do?  Probably just hurt myself and not allow me to build up enough endurance.  And working – if I work work work work and don’t replenish my personal needs, I’m going to burn out.  And that, my friend, is exactly when your competition will swoop in and snatch up your clients, you profits, and your business.  Watch out.

Moral of the story:  Be smart.
•    Strategize about the best way to achieve your goals.
•    Come up with a plan.  Try to make it a good plan.
•    Get going!!
•    Pause, reassess, see how you’re doing.  Come up with a new game plan if you need to.
•    Finish, and SUCCEED.

Wait you’re not done!

Look at how you succeeded. What worked?  What didn’t?  Why were you efficient?  Make sure you note these things cuz they’ll help you out next time.