When 1% is Too Much

The Navy Seals have a motivational mantra … One Percent Better. Every day you should strive to be one percent better than you were yesterday. Part of me loves this idea, but part of me feels like it comes up a little short of what I need to make change in my life.

Let's start with the things I like about one percent. It feels achievable. It’s only one percent, after all. That’s nothing, right? Surely I can be a tiny bit better than I was yesterday. Let’s do this.

Second, it’s deceptively significant. Although one percent each day feels miniscule, do that for a whole year and you’ll be a person who is 37 times better than when you began. That’s 3,700 percent increase! That’s yuuuuuge!

Now, for the downside of one percent. My problem is that it’s too abstract, at least within the context of my life. What would a “me” that is 37 times better actually look like? How do I ensure, each and every day, that I’m one percent better than I was yesterday? How would I measure that?

I realize the one percent is metaphorical. It’s not a scientific measurement. I think this is a problem for most people, including me. If I can’t measure it, I can’t hold myself accountable. If I can’t hold myself accountable, I won’t do the work. Ask my parents. For most people, one percent might provide a spark of motivation, but to sustain that motivation over 365 days, we’re going to need more.

What if, instead, we opted to take a single developmental micro-dose every day? What is a micro-dose? It’s like a pill for your personal growth. Okay, get your mind out of the gutter. Think of a developmental micro-dose as a minimum amount of an activity or action that is designed to yield a long-term benefit. In other words, a really small amount of a good thing.

How small is small? That’s up to you to decide. My recommendation is small enough to be noticeable, but not so significant as to be really difficult. If it’s too difficult, you’ll be too likely to skip your daily dose.

You’ll want to design your micro-doses up front. You can design them for any area of your life. I’ve taken the liberty of doing some brainstorming and come up with a handful of ideas for each of the seven areas of Life Design. You can grab that worksheet here. (Download Here)

The advantage of designing your micro-doses up front is that you can be more intentional about how you incorporate them into your life. Intentionality is key with developmental micro-dosing. We want to actively choose to do the activity. For example, don’t just look back at your day and identify something that “counts” as your micro-dose.

Intentionality during the micro-dose is also crucial. When you take your micro-dose, try to be fully present throughout the activity. This is where the real benefit comes in. Don’t just DO the activity. Remind yourself WHY you are doing it. Tell yourself this is your one percent better moment. Allow the fact that you are doing this to make yourself a better human a year from now to sink in. Smile about that.

You can mix up your micro-doses each day. There’s no need to do the same thing every single day. A little variety might keep your motivation high. If you’ve intentionally designed your micro-doses up front, you just need to make sure you do one each day.

Don’t cheat. You’ll only be cheating yourself and I’m going to know if you show up next year and you’re only 34 times better.

Create a low maintenance reminder and tracking system. I’ve been using an online tool for task tracking and I create a recurring task every day for my developmental-micro-dose. Since I’m already using that tool, adding the micro-dose was easy. A friend of mine showed me another fun option. All you need is a napkin or a piece of scrap paper. Simply ball up the paper and put it into your pocket each morning. Throughout the day you’ll notice the ball of paper and it will remind you to take your micro-dose. If the paper is still in your pocket at the end of the day, you have to take your micro-dose before bed. (Thanks Rodney!)

So, that it! Once little micro-dose of personal development every day. Before you know it, you’ll be 37 times better.

Prosperous Journey,

-zog

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