Wouldn’t it be nice if we could snap our fingers and instantly have what we want? If only it were that easy. There are many reasons for the disparity among people, with some living at the top, doing fulfilling work, engaged in deep, meaningful relationships, being financially free, and being fit and strong, while others seem to continuously struggle, live paycheck to paycheck, feel lonely and distant in their relationships, eek their way through each day of work, and are overweight, sick, and tired all the time. Sure, circumstances vary, unexpected events occur, and even luck plays a part, but where you are in life is so much more within your control than most people realize.
The first step is deciding that enough is enough, seeing what you want your life to ultimately look like, and committing to doing whatever it takes to get there. That all happens in an instant. Deciding. That’s the spark that puts things into motion. It’s the one thing that must happen if you are to have the life you have always dreamed of–deciding you are ready to go get it.
The next step is to take action. Thinking big is crucial, but doing is what gets the results. But it can be overwhelming to stand before your newly set goals and that grandiose vision and figure out how to get from where you currently are to where you ultimately want to be. So, how do you do it? Well, how would you eat an elephant? One… bite… at… a… time.
If you break down any endeavor or challenge into smaller chunks, it becomes much more doable, comprehendible, believable, and achievable.
In James Clear’s great book, Atomic Habits, I was introduced to “the power of tiny gains.” If you get just 1% better each day, which doesn’t seem like much, and certainly won’t feel like much in the beginning, by the end of one year, you will have multiplied your growth by thirty-seven times. (The math is calculated as 1.01365 ~ 37.78.) Wow! That’s powerful. That’s exciting. Thirty-seven times improvement seems big and feels like a lot to accomplish. And it is. But when you break it down into that 1% each day, it becomes something you know you can do.
But how do we quantify that 1%. I can tell you that I never really figured that out, never had a true 1% measure. I always just shot for improving at least a little each day. Well, just recently I came across another book called One Percent Better, by Brian Cain, who happens to be one of the world’s leading peak performance and mental conditioning coaches. This is where I was introduced to the fact that there are 1,440 minutes in each day, and that one percent of that is 14 minutes and 24 seconds.
So, investing just 14 minutes and 24 seconds each day into improving yourself is all it takes, and you’ll get thirty seven times better over just one year. That’s amazing! When you look at it like that, isn’t it much more doable? Just 14 minutes and 24 seconds each day can radically change your life. Extrapolated out, you can be so much fitter and stronger, richer, doing more meaningful and impactful work, and being more deeply in love, in just one year.
So, what are you waiting for? You just ran out of excuses. If you can’t find that 14 minutes and 24 seconds each day, you’re simply not looking. And Cain says you can break up that time to ensure all areas of your life improve. So, you could split it into 7 minutes and 12 seconds spent on your personal life, and 7 minutes and 12 seconds on your work life.
If your life doesn’t look like you always dreamed it would, it likely got that way by applying the 1% rule in the wrong direction. Think about body weight. If you put on just two pounds in one year, you would not see, or feel, that difference. But over ten years, that adds up to 20 extra pounds. Know anyone carrying around an extra 20 pounds (or 30, or 40, or more). That did not happen overnight.
So… radical change does not happen with the snap of a finger, but the deciding part can. Decide today that you’ve had enough. Decide that today is the day you start turning things around. Then commit to the 14 minutes and 24 seconds it takes to make that one percent change each day and that thirty seven times improvement over the next year. Compound that over several years, and you become unstoppable, unrecognizable, and the life you always dreamed about becomes the life you are actually living. It’s not that hard when you break it down into just 14 minutes and 24 seconds each day. Start today!
