1% — Small, Realistic and most definitely achievable.
If you follow my work or have worked with me you know that I am always promoting the need to take small steps. You may have also heard me talk about ‘The 1%’
This has come up again this week and so I thought that it would be a good opportunity to talk about where it originates from in this week’s blog.
David Brailsford of Team Sky is credited with championing a philosophy of ‘marginal gains’ at British Cycling
The principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together”[ Brailsford (2012)
This was a proven successful for cycling but also transfers quite nicely into any plans to make improvements or to progress towards a goal.
For example, if you are looking to improve your nutrition then the first week you may introduce more water, and you may look to increase your number of steps.
Both are small changes.
Both are positive increases (focusing on the goal ahead not what you are leaving behind)
Both help towards the goal.
If you were looking to improve your sleep and rest before bed then you might go to bed half an hour earlier and find a relaxation exercise (ie Calm) in the 10 minutes before you turn out the light.
Both are small changes.
Both are positive increases
Both help towards the goal.
When considering the 1% ask yourself;
- What do I want more of?
- What do I do that makes me feel happy?
- What can I do to help reduce my stress levels?
- What can I do more of to help me reach my goals?
- Think about the answers to these questions, and then increase it by 1%
Small and consistent is key
(First posted November 2017)
