First off, Before you read this post I encourage you to take 5 minutes to watch this youtube video. Even just 5 minutes of meditation can allow you to pause, clear your mind, reflect, and express gratitude.
So why did I make you watch that video? In this second post, I want to discuss what it means to be 1% better every day. One of the biggest things I learned this week was the impact small changes can have on your day-to-day life.
First off, I want you to think small and reflect on the things you do every day. Whether this is how much you workout in a week, how many healthy meals you have had today, or even your mood when you wake up. I encourage you to think about the impact those actions have on your day. What if you wanted to change those seemingly mundane tasks for the better? I’m not talking about going from 0 to 100 overnight but one small change, 1% to be precise.
I reflected on this and it got me thinking about what I could do to be 1% better every day. Some of the things I wrote down were starting to journal some goals and gratitude for each day, taking time in the morning for myself, meditating, and moving my body more. It felt good to get some of these ideas down on paper, yet these ideas still felt really big and I wasn’t sure where to start. I broke them down even further and decided to list them so I can focus on building one at a time. When I say I broke them down I really mean it! Down to a point where the task itself is barely noticeable. In the long run, as that 1% builds up every day eventually they’ll make a difference.
In James Clear’s “Atomic Habits” he expresses how when someone strives to get 1 percent better at something for a whole year, they can end up 37 times better than they were at the beginning! As clear states;
“habits are the compound interest of self-improvement” I think something to take away from this is that even though you may see it as a small win right now, it counts and helps bring you towards your goals.
James Clear
One of these small small changes was wanting to practice meditating more. As the Oxford dictionary explains, meditating is to “focus your mind, usually in silence – in order to make your mind calm.” With that in mind, I started small. By taking an extra few moments in times when I felt like I needed to focus and calm my mind. Meditation had been a new year’s goal of mine and over the past two weeks, I’ve made an effort to build it into my routine. Upon learning about the impacts small changes can bring, I’ve decided to take that as an opportunity to weave into this journey. Right now I’m still in those beginning stages but the fact I can start to build a routine in which I feel like I’m working towards something, is both rewarding and motivating. Change can be daunting but breaking goals, habits, or tasks down into small steps can be a way to face a challenge in a way that works for you!
Sources:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inpok4MKVLM
Clear, James. “Atomic Habits”
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/meditate?q=meditate
dylanchampagne
Omg Emma!
Your blog is COMPLETELY amazing. I have to admit when I started creating my blog I had no idea where to start with formatting, hyperlinks and tools but found looking at your site super helpful. The way you have laid our your template makes it super user friendly, and I cannot help but be drawn in by your fun colours and super engaging blog posts.
I love how we are both talking about healthy habits and mindfulness for our free inquiry, I feel as though this is an aspect of ourselves many people are trying to work on right now. I have not read the book “Atomic Habits” but feel like it is definitely something I should have a look at. I love to read and would definitely find it super valuable. I also feel like we are both on the same journey with meditation, as in trying to find time in our lives to do it.
I have started to notice how addicted I really am to my phone, and half the time when I say I have no time it is simply because I spend hours in the evenings on Tiktok, i know this time could be spent more wisely. From the research I have done, even 10 minutes if mindful practice a day can be positive. I think that for both of us we are taking small steps in the right direction as you said (even though i feel like your life is far more together than time), and continue to strive for that best version of ourselves.