What would you life look like a month from now if you just gave just one percent more effort to the things you do every day? This was a question posed by comedian/actor/all-around interesting guy Hal Sparks to those of us hanging out on his Saturday afternoon webcam show. And it got me thinking. How can I do the things I do in my daily life just one percent better than I did before?
Hal is a catalyst - something (or in this case, someone) that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected and I’m always amazed at what I come away with from listening to him. He challenges my perceptions of things and my beliefs and does it all the while making me laugh (at him AND myself).
So, back to Hal’s question: How would your life change if you gave just one percent more effort?
Like many others, I hate to start at the beginning. I will throw myself into something and assume that I know enough to hit the ground running. I am really good at “just winging it” and while that’s gotten me pretty far in life, I don’t recommend it because when you do have to start at the beginning, it’s really hard. (been there, doing that) And taking things in teeny, tiny bits (1% perhaps?) feels like it’s just not fast enough. I want it all and I want it now. And if I can’t have it all, then never mind. I don’t want any of it. (Can you hear the foot stomping sounds I’m making?) Now you know why one percent feels icky to me. Maybe to you, too.
It has been a challenge to me to start small. And I resist it every. step. of. the. way. But what are the rewards of starting at the beginning?
* Incremental change – One percent change doesn’t look like this: running toward a big mountain, trying to climb it only to fall back to the ground, bumping my head along the way. One percent change is more like putting on my sneakers to go out the door to look at a mountain, thinking about climbing it someday. And one percent more than that means doing it two days in a row. Then three days. And soon, I’ll be standing at the base of the mountain, dressed in climbing gear and ready to tackle the challenge. Change comes slowly to most people but it’s these baby steps that help get you there. You just have to do them (rather than *think* about doing them, like I have done.)
* A sense of forward motion – once you start moving in a direction, it’s easier to keep that movement going. We’ve all had that experience where we started a diet or an exercise program and were doing great UNTIL we fell off the wagon for one or two days which turned into weeks. How hard was it to get back on it and keep moving? Pretty hard, huh? But if we just take it day by day (or sometimes hour by hour) we can keep going.
* Less overwhelm – because I like to jump into the middle of things, I get overwhelmed pretty fast. Most times, I struggle my way out of it but there have been times when I’ve had to sit in my closet because I’ve gotten myself into too much and can’t find my way out. The easier (albeit slower) way out is to take it in smaller bites. When you clear one hurdle, you can run toward another, then another. And if you do bite off a bit too much, it’s not enough to make you hide in a closet. (Maybe just inside the pantry door!)
All good things, yes? Remember that the slower you start, the smaller the rewards at the beginning. If you can do 15 minutes on the bike at the gym, try 16. It doesn’t take that much more effort and soon you’ll be doing 30. That’s where the results start showing up so you can see them.
Baby steps take faith that your work will eventually show results. In a world where instant gratification is everything, this feels almost unbearable. Like any spiritual work, these things take time and build on a foundation of work that went before it. I am having to learn (often the hard way) that there is merit in doing that foundational work. There is merit in doing things just one percent better than you did them before. Hal says that you’d be amazed at how different things look 30 days later after putting this into practice and I believe him.
I’m asking you: what can you do one percent better today than yesterday? And what does one percent more than today’s accomplishment look like for you tomorrow?
Start small with me and see what changes come.
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13 Responses to Just 1%
The Groovy Chick behind Practically Intuitive
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Hi Lisa,
This is a really thought provoking post. Hmmm, I can see quite a few places in my life where I can put in another 1% in effort. Thank you for pointing this out to me.
I think for right now – I have to be satisfied by just doing my best. I’m in the midst of selling my home and I feel a bit overwhelmed with the changes I’ll be facing, so I’m going to postpone doing and extra 1% of anything. I will implement in the future though.
Thank you Lisa.
Hi Angela,
Doing your best in a situation where you are feeling overwhelmed is all you can ask of yourself. When time and space allows, ramp it up just 1%!
Good luck with the sale of your house!
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Excellent post. You are rocking it, girl!
My major problem with starting at the beginning is an ego thing of feeling, now, that I”m too old, that I shouldn’t bloody well HAVE TO START AT THE BEGINNING anymore! My brother, an artist, who has shifted from sculpture to oil painting (georgecarrstudio.blogspot.com) was inspirational to me because when he made the change to oil painting, HE STARTED AT THE BEGINNING. Classes, etc., with no sense that he should be “beyond needing that.” Very impressive attitude.
Hey Jody,
Wow, I give your brother lots of props for that. It looks easy from the outside but for me, doing something like that requires me to let go of all my “but *I* know how to do all this stuff” self and dive in. I don’t much like that. But I suspect I’m being offered the chance to do just that.
Lisa, I am so happy you found and commented on my site because this instant gratification gal is working on following the 1% rule in healing. And although I just posted about being stuck, I also shared about some course corrections that I have made that were 1% and made a difference.
I thought I wanted to sky dive to get brave, when I was in college. I had to save up quite a bit of money to do this and I discovered by having to earn the money after a year and still 2 years away from accomplishing this goal, I no longer wanted this adventure. I also started to appreciate how brave I already had been in my life. Time is often an amazing teacher!
Nice writing and sharing Thank you
Hey Patricia …. thanks for stopping by! Sometimes, doing the internal work is harder and scarier than jumping out of a plane!
Bit by bit, 1% each time and soon we see some big shifts.
This is really timely (even though I’m late to the party haha) because I’d just decided I need to break things down into smaller steps.
I’m having a challenge keeping up with everything outside, inside, and away from home (elderly folks) so I thought, “how about if I say I’ll just clean for 15 minutes a day or weed for 15 minutes a day?”
At first I thought that was ridiculous because it’s such a small amount of time. But then I realized there are days I let things slide completely because I have an attitude of if I can’t do it all I may as well not even start.
So, this clinches it. I am going to start my 15 minutes a day of cleaning and see how things go from there.
Jean, I totally share that “if I can’t do it all, why even bother?” idea. It really pulls me into a ditch. I think Flylady was one who suggested setting a timer for 10 minutes and doing a chore for just that length of time. And each day, you accomplish a bit more without being overwhelmed. (I get easily overwhelmed when I start de-cluttering!)
Glad to see you are making the decision to do your 15 minutes! Let me know how it goes. (Even 10 minutes is a start!)
Hi Lisa,
What a great message. Taking baby steps reminds me of when I was watching a show on TV the other day and they were talking about exercise. The trainer suggested for those who don’t exercise, to start with one minute on a treadmill (or just walking indoors or out). Then increase it to two minutes the next day, and so on. When put into minute increments, it sounds very doable. All we need to do is just start.
Hey Barbara,
Baby steps are hard for lots of people (or is it just me?? heh) because we all want to be a master immediately. Feeling like a novice at something is kind of icky. But as I’ve learned, there is so much to gather from starting at the beginning and going step by step. And, it’s easier too! Who knew?
Thanks for coming by!
Oh boy what a wonderful — and doable! — challenge. Thank you!
[...] have to throw caution to the wind to do this process. You can start bit by bit (perhaps even just one percent more!) and go from [...]