Improve yourself 1% Every Day And In One Year You Will Be 37.78 Times Better Than Today

"The man who moves mountains begins by carrying small stones."

Confucius

A teacher once told me: “Don’t compare yourself with others, compare yourself with yourself. The important thing is to be better than you were before.”

If you improve a little every day, just 1%, in one year you will be 37.78 times better.

If you improve a little every day, just 1%, in a year you will be 365% better.

Got the message?

I love this 1% example. I read it in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I like it because you see the results that we can obtain with small steps in numerical terms. Little habits make a difference. It’s only 1%!

Also, if you get 1% worse each day, you will gradually get worse and your result will tend to zero.

It is very important to always remember that 1%. When we set a goal, if we think about how big it seems and how much effort it takes to achieve it, we can be demotivated. We may think that it is very difficult to achieve it. And sometimes we “throw in the towel”, and quit.

If you have to climb a ramp of 50 stairs, it is very difficult to climb them quickly in one step. Or if you are climbing one step at a time but focus on the top and don’t see the step where you are putting your foot on, you can trip and fall.

Another scenario is knowing our big goal, but also being aware of the small steps that can lead us to reach it. Each step becomes a mini-goal. Each step brings us closer to the big goal. It is important to keep the end goal in mind but DO NOT take your eyes off the step you are taking now, in the present moment.

An important tip: accomplish the small step. If you do more, it is EXTRA. But the important thing is that you carried out the small step. It has happened to me and to several people that I have cared for, that after starting with a mini-goal, in our mind we set bigger goals, we want to achieve more in less time. For a few days it can work, but sometimes there comes a day when you get lazy, you no longer think about the small goal but about something bigger, you become demotivated, and the positive streak can end. But remember, you can start over again!

Another example. To start with, I aim to do one push-up a day. If I make one, I fulfil my goal, AND PRAISE MYSELF. If I do more it is extra. But the important thing is that I did 1 push-up. IT IS EASIER TO BE DISCIPLINED AND CONSISTENT WITH SMALL STEPS.

If I start thinking about doing 30 at once, and set that goal, I might do it. But if I am starting, if I have not generated a habit and I have not applied a strategy, it may not be maintained over time. Then one can think: I did not make it … I did not achieve my goal …

Better to focus on doing 1 push-up. If one day I do more, Super! I did extra! But if I do one, I met my goal, AND I CELEBRATE. And I continue with my micro-habit. This point is essential. This approach and the science behind it is explained in the book Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.

Get better 1% every day and in one year you will be 37.78 times better than today.

That 1% can be in the area of your life that you want.

¡Go for it!

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Quote suggested by reader:

"Whoever spends his time improving himself has no time to criticize others."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta.