I’m not slacking on these I swear. I had an emergency eye appointment yesterday that took up a lot of my day.
Before I dive into what I can do to start implementing this idea, I’d like to mention something about an excerpt from the article linked in the prompt above. It says:
“The danger of looking for a magic bullet is that you end up spending all your time searching for it instead of actually doing the work that needs to be done. You scroll through countless blog articles on productivity, in hopes of discovering that one tip that will make you superhumanly efficient. You listen to podcast after podcast from people who earn their living telling people how to make money online, hoping one day you’ll hear an insight that will unlock your businesses’ potential, so you too can make your living online, telling other people how to make a living online. You research and find the perfect gratitude journal so you can be more zen.”
This made something click for me this morning. I am absolutely, positively, 100% guilty of this. I’ve bought self-help books that I think will be the answer to all of my problems. I’ve implemented different task management solutions in my life thinking it’ll make me more productive. I listen to podcasts about people that have “made it” in life thinking that I would love to be like them one day. I find another magic bullet on top of the huge ammo belt of magic bullets I already have and think it’s going to do something for me without even loading it into a gun to try and fire it. A lot of times I’ll read a book or listen to a podcast and think the teachings and concepts in them are awesome, but never take action on them. I’ll forget about them by the end of the day. This in and of itself can be my 1%; it can be what I focus on improving upon.
I find another magic bullet on top of the huge ammo belt of magic bullets I already have and think it’s going to do something for me without even loading it into a gun to try and fire it.
Every time I pick up a book to continue where I left off, or resume a podcast I was listening to before, I can ask myself “is this something I want to do in my life?” If the answer is yes, I can then ask “what am I going to do to make sure I start implementing this?”
But for now, a more formal answer to the prompt. I want to live a healthy lifestyle. I want to exercise, eat well balanced meals, cut junk out of my diet, save for retirement, be financially healthy, and more. When I think about improving 1% each day, I don’t think about one particular goal. I think about how I can improve myself as a whole – is the action I am taking now going to improve my current and future self? Is this something that pushes my path to success forward? I try to live with that question in mind every minute of every day.
I mentioned something in my answer to the previous day’s prompt about not hitting the snooze button. The 1% here is to wake up 5 minutes earlier every day until I get to the point that I want to be, even if I hit the snooze button. Then I can work on not pressing snooze in the morning.
I have fallen off the wagon when it comes to exercising and eating healthy. I have it on my professional development goals for my job (which affects my bonus at the end of the year) to lose 15 lbs in a year and to maintain a workout regimen of at least three times a week when possible. I had lost 13 lbs at the beginning of June, but I’ve strayed so far away from it now that I haven’t even tried to weigh myself again and I’m certain I’ve started backtracking. I haven’t lifted weights in 2 weeks. I could make excuses saying “life happens” or my friend who holds me accountable has been busy, but the real reason is I lack the discipline to make myself do it on my own. The 1% improvement for eating healthy is to pick a smaller portion size when I order from McDonald’s, or choose to plan for three meals cooked at home during the week instead of two. Just cutting out fast food altogether is unsustainable – I’ll lose any motivation that I have around this initiative. After all, that’s what the idea of the 1% improvement is all about: small wins result in exponential successes.
The 1% improvement for exercising is to just do something. Make sure that I don’t have a zero day for exercise, or make sure that I do something to get active. If I don’t play ping-pong at lunch for whatever reason, go on a walk with the dog in the evening. If I don’t lift weights, do some body weight exercises (even if it is just one push-up!) in the evening.
I spend too much money on things I don’t need. This could even go hand in hand with the eating healthier improvement – I spend a lot on eating out. To be financially healthy, I need to cut spending on unnecessary items. The 1% improvement here is to make sure to ask myself whenever I buy something if I really should buy the item. Put it in an online cart and revisit it in a week. Do I still want it? Is it still applicable? Do I remember the reason for wanting to buy it in the first place? If I plan for three home-cooked meals instead of two, it’ll save money too.
I really dig the idea of the Kaizen technique of improvement. Small wins generating big successes is something I’ve believed in for quite a while. Small improvements is the key to making anything work. Biting off more than you can chew is never a good idea. I hope the result of this journal entry isn’t similar to what I mentioned earlier about just forgetting about it by the end of the day. I need to push myself to implement these small, 1% improvements that I know I can do.