Striving for Incremental Progress: The M ...

Striving for Incremental Progress: The Meaning Behind 1%

May 23, 2024

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If you keep doing what you are doing, you’re only going to keep getting whatever you’re getting.

It would be insane to expect different outcomes while you continue to live the way you do.

- Stephen R Covey

Time keeps moving forward, doesn't it?

Its progression may be slow, but its coming and going are certain, often overlooked until it's past.

Time plays tricks on us, making our happiest moments seem fleeting and our hardest moments feel prolonged.

Yet, everyone receives the same 24 hours each day, repeating 365 times a year. 

We all observe the same clock and live by the same time.

We keep waiting for the right moment. 

But we lose so much time waiting for that right moment.

It’s easier to look back and identify what changed our lives.

Change is not linear, but exponential.

Just think how different our lives would be if we got 1% better every day we tried.

1.01⁶⁰ = 1.816 (2 months of growing at 1% makes you nearly 2 times better)

1.01¹⁸⁰ = 5.995 (6 months makes you 6 times better)

1.01³⁶⁵ = 37.78 (1 year makes you 38 times better)

We are so focused on instant success that we overlook the power of compounding. 

We forget that a small gain can accumulate significantly over time if we remain patient and consistent.

However, the same applies to becoming 1% worse each day when we are led astray.

0.99⁶⁰ = 0.547 (2 months of losing 1% makes you half the person you are)

0.99¹⁸⁰ = 0.163 (6 months makes you 10 times worse)

0.99³⁶⁵ = 0.0255 (1 year makes you 50 times worse)

It's easier to deteriorate over time than to improve.

It's simpler for us to destroy than to create.

Good things always take time, while bad things take less.

There are good days, bad days, and ordinary days. 

Either we're progressing, regressing, or maintaining the status quo. 

We can't expect growth every single day, but we can strive for it. 

We may lose ourselves several times a year, but we can endeavour to regain our footing.

There is a balance everywhere in this universe, and we need to find ours.

(0.99⁶⁰) (1²⁰⁵) (1.01¹²⁰) = 1.805

2 months of becoming 1% worse and 4 months of trying to be 1% better can nearly make us twice the people we are.

(1.805)⁵ = 19.159

Compound that for 5 years and we become unrecognizable (19 times)

This might seem ordinary to some and extraordinary to others because 1% is relative. 

When starting from nothing, 1% can feel almost inconsequential. 

However, as we progress from 1 to 2 and then from 2 to 4, the impact of 1% grows significantly. 

Changes become more pronounced, and everything starts falling into place.


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