Often, people don’t try to achieve Big Goals because to do so seems daunting. For example, making a career change can seem like a Herculean task. Losing 50 pounds can seem impossible. Even organizing one’s home may seem like an insurmountable endeavor. But realize that all your personal goals are doable. You simply need to apply the 1% Better Principle.
The idea behind the 1% Better Principle is this: The best way to approach any Big Goal is to make small, consistent efforts toward that goal every day. So, instead of unrealistically aiming for overnight success, under the 1% Better Principle, you simply focus on making 1% progress toward your goal each day. And if you focus on making 1% progress every day or week, over time, your incremental gains will result in your achieving your goal.
If you have Big Goals that you are trying to achieve, and you’re feeling frustrated, I’d encourage you to try the 1% Better Principle. Read below about how you can use the 1% Better Principle to achieve your most sought after goals.
Start with Micro-Goals
One of the best ways to achieve Big Goals is to stop thinking about those Big Goals. Yes, you read that correctly! Why? Well, it’s because Big Goals can feel overwhelming. Moreover, Big Goals typically take months, if not years to achieve. And it’s hard to maintain your motivation for a goal that isn’t going to happen for quite a while.
So, to keep up your motivation, you instead need to instead focus on achieving small, micro-goals each day. Accomplishing those micro-goals will keep you motivated as you move incrementally forward each day toward achieving your Big Goal.
For example, let’s say that you’re trying to lose 50 pounds. That goal won’t happen overnight. So, the key is to break down achieving that goal into small, doable, daily actions, like adding 5 minutes of walking or 15 minutes of weight lifting each day. Or drinking two extra glasses of water each day.
Those small actions will move you 1% toward your goal each day or week. Once you establish those small routines, you then can build upon those routines. So, for the first month, you might add 5 minutes of walking to your daily routine. Then, during your second month, you might decide to add on 15 minutes of riding your exercise bike each day.
The key is to keep your Big Goal in the back of your mind, but to give your laser focus to your small goals. If you keep achieving those small goals every day, you’ll eventually achieve your Big Goal simply by keeping your efforts in motion.
Track Your Efforts Every Day
When using the 1% Better Principle, it helps to track your efforts. Now, if you’re technologically minded, you can find lots of apps out there to mark your progress. Alternatively, you can just use a scrap of paper.
For example, I’m currently working on improving my health. So, during the day, I write down on a Post-it note every time that I’ve accomplished a micro-goal toward getting healthier. I may write, “20 minutes on the exercise bike,” or “15 minutes of yoga.” My goal is to have my Post-it note full of micro-accomplishments at the end of each day which are moving me closer to my goal of optimal health.
What I’ve found is that when you track your small efforts each day, it feels great! It’s motivating. I love it when my Post-it note is full of small things that I’ve done during the day to get me closer to my goal of improved health.
In addition, my Post-it note keeps me on track. I could easily get side-tracked by other things on my To Do List. But my health is important! So, knowing that I want to have a fully Post-it note at the end of each day keeps me focused on my micro-goals.
So, if you are using the 1% Principle toward any goal, monitor your daily progress. Because when using the 1% Principle, your main focus is simply to do some small things toward your Big Goal today.
Consider Adding Your Efforts to Existing Habits
When applying the 1% Better Principle, it helps to add your small effort onto something that you already do each day. For example, one of my goals is to increase my serenity. Like most people, I want to be less irritated by the problems in life that are unimportant. And I want to be in the right mental state to handle life’s big problems when the come along, in a calm state of mind. So, one way I’m trying to become 1% more serene each week is by meditating every day.
Over the years, I’ve found that meditation is an elusive habit. Why? Well, because our To Do Lists in life are long. There always seems to be something more important to do than to sit for 10 minutes in silence and meditate. So, to truly commit to a meditation practice, I decided to add meditation onto one of my existing habits. Specifically, spending time each day with my pet rabbit. My rabbit has a very mellow personality, which is conducive to meditating! So, each day, I sit cross-legged in his enclosure, and while he hops around me and jumps on my lap, I close my eyes and do a meditation with the Calm App.
The funny thing about my routine is this: Now that I’ve linked meditating to spending quality time with the bunny, I never miss a day of meditating. The added bonus is that the bunny loves the meditation routine because rabbits are naturally shy, skittish creatures. So, having me sit very still with him, while he hops about, is his cup of tea!
So, if you are seeking to apply the 1% Better Principle, link your small daily effort to one of your existing daily habits. If you do so, you’ll have no issue sticking with your new habit, and you’ll reach your Big Goal sooner than anticipated!
Focus on the Journey
The 1% Better Principle is most effective when you stop focusing on your end goal, but instead, focus on your daily journey. Why? Well, because the 1% Better approach is based on what you do today. What you do today is critically important because it’s laying the foundation for your future success.
I’ve been on this earth several decades at this point, and what I wish I’d understood better early on is that you can only live life one day at a time. So, the key to living a good life is to focus on today. And today, you just want to do something small toward achieving your goals.
Of course, you have a grander goal in mind that you’d like to accomplish in the future. You may want to achieve something truly Big. Or you may want to transform yourself in some meaningful way. Those goals are wonderful. But your focus today should be on your journey toward achieving those goals. That means asking yourself every morning, “What small things can I do today toward achieving my Great, Big Goal or becoming the best version of me that I can be?”
Reflect and Adjust Weekly
As you track your daily progress toward becoming 1% Better, it helps to reflect, and on occasion, to adjust your efforts. For example, when working toward my health goals, I make adjustments all the time! Every week, I pay attention to how my body is reacting to my efforts, and then I make small adjustments.
Recently, I figured out that I shouldn’t do just one type of exercise. Instead, my body needs a combination of different types of exercises during the week, which include biking, walking and yoga. So, I now have adjusted my exercise schedule to include a variety of exercise activities, versus just one. And with trial and error, I keep working to see which types of exercises work best for my body. And that combination keeps changing as I age.
The same approach applies when achieving any kind of goal. If you are a writer, you may have a goal of writing a little bit every day. But after some time, you may find that you need at least one full “writing day,” in which you do nothing but write from morning until dinnertime.
The key is to keep making small adjustments to your daily routine as you apply the 1% Better Principle. Spend time figuring out what is working, what isn’t working, and what small adjustments you can make to improve your approach. The good news is that it’s fun to keep figuring out how to not only become 1% Better, but how to keep getting “better” at your approach!
If you are seeking to apply the 1% Better Principle, consider following the approaches above. If you do so, you’ll find that the principle works beautifully when seeking to achieve any goal. And pretty soon, you’ll find yourself on the path to achieving your Big Goals and becoming the best version of YOU possible! (To read more about the power of setting daily goals, click here.)
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