How would you like to be better at being you or what you do?
Not comparing yourself with anybody and thinking you come up short.
Just being a better version of you.
“The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self”.
The Dalai Lama
The idea is to improve yourself by 1% every day.
I love the work of James Altucher and James Clear. They talk about the aggregation of marginal gains.
A small 1% makes it very easy to stick with as it requires little effort. But the incremental gains of being that tiny bit better daily, over the period of a year, will accumulate to you being 37x better than you are today.
So I’m not talking drastic change but I am talking massive results.
If you don’t wish to improve, then you will be the same as now and if you are okay with that, then that’s great.
Now how great would it be to be 37x better this time next year, I’d love that, wouldn’t you?
Think about your health
How could you be 1% better with your health?
Could you get 1% more sleep, eat 1% more vegetables or exercise 1% more frequently?
Then your Wealth.
If you are into property, what is it that you could do 1% better?
Is it make a phone call to an agent, letter drop in your your patch, spend time on the internet and see what is available.
If it is money could you spend less and save more?
Do you need to improve your business, start a business (a great time to be planning that, is now).
Next your relationship.
Do you need to tell somebody you love them, do something for some body, thank someone, research your partners, ‘Love Language’ and communicate with them so they really feel loved?
Back in the early 2000’s the British Cycling Team were struggling.
They were so bad that bike manufacturers didn’t want their brands associated with them. Long story short, they hired a new coach by the name of Dave Brailesford who adopted the 1% improvement theory. Dave went through as much as he could with the team and made 1% improvements. He changed the many things including the pillows they slept on, the massage creams they used, the fabric they rode in, their bike tyres and he even got them washing their hands more. (Ironic right now with the Covid19 hand washing recommendations).
Within 2 years they won the Tour de France and again the following year. Five years later, at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing the team dominated and won a vast majority of the medals. Their results continue to be amazing.
How does this happen?
How do you transform a very mediocre team into world champions and how can you make this work for you?
Small improvements repeated over and over accumulate. Too often we think of improvement being big steps and big actions. You think you will have to make massive changes.
The problem with that is when changes are big, you give up because things feel hard and as a result, you don’t achieve the results you are after. By making tiny changes, it is not only sustainable but very easy to implement as a habit.
Unfortunately, success or amazing results are seen as one defining moment when in fact they are the accumulation of compounded small actions.
It’s similar to a plane taking off with a designated flight path that is out by 1%. The plane will end up miles off course with just that small change in direction.
If you were to replicate this approach in your life, just imagine where you could be in twelve months from today or even where you could be at the end of Covid19.
Choose one area and give it a go or for the high achievers, all 3.
By Hilary Saxton