Elite Performers Don’t Just Read, They Re-Read

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Hey, it’s David

Welcome back to M&A from the Plane, quick stories and insights drawn from the many miles I log in the air talking to business owners, founders, and dealmakers.

Most people treat books like one-and-done checkboxes.
But I’ve noticed a different pattern among elite performers… they don’t just move on to the next thing. They return. They refine. They revisit what worked… and find new edges where others see repetition.

This came up again during a recent flight.

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The captain just made a mid-flight announcement even though nothing changed.

No turbulence. No rerouting. Just a calm voice confirming altitude and arrival time.
He didn’t tell us anything new. But it reinforced that someone’s paying attention.

Same goes for top performers.
They don’t wait for turbulence. They rerun the loop again looking for efficiencies.

And this reminded me of a recent experience on a flight…

The guy across the aisle had a book open, nothing flashy, just well-worn.
Dog-eared pages. Notes in the margins. Sticky tabs poking out from every direction.

I nodded toward it and asked if he was enjoying it.

He smiled: “Yeah. Fourth time through.”
Not like someone catching up.
Like someone sharpening something that already works.

He wasn’t studying something new.
He was locking in something proven.

The Sharpest Edge Isn’t Always New, It’s Repetition with Precision

The best performers I know don’t wait for turbulence to recheck the controls.
They proactively revisit what already works and look for tighter calibration.

I’ve seen it in:

• Investors revisiting the same memo with a sharper lens six months later.

• Operators tightening the same onboarding flow… not because it’s broken, but because churn still has a pulse.

• Founders, business owners, and entrepreneurs rereading the books that built their foundation… this time not for inspiration, but for clarity.

This isn’t just about intellectual humility.
It’s about operational edge.

True lifelong learners don’t see knowledge as a finish line.
They build quiet feedback loops.
They turn insights into systems.
And when something clicks, they don’t move on… they drill deeper.

It’s not about knowing more.
It’s about applying better.

Final Thought

There’s a reason elite athletes watch tape of games they already won.
The margin for sustained success lives in the replay.

Same goes for business…

Learning doesn’t stop when you walk out the door of an academic institution.

It manifests itself in a variety of ways, from books, to newsletters, to podcasts. There’s always insight to be learned that continues drives our future success.

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David