in.sight
a newsletter for the eyes of the mind
SERIES 01 | ISSUE 10
Yes, you can succeed by doing almost nothing
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
– James Clear, Atomic Habits
People usually perceive goal achievement as something that requires unwavering discipline, sacrifice, and motivation. And while it’s true that achieving things in life requires effort, it doesn’t have to be as gruelling as we make it to be. In fact, striving for intensity all the time might even derail your progress.
This is why James Clear’s 1% strategy works so well. He explains in his book Atomic Habit how it’s possible to achieve major transformations with tiny consistent changes. May it be clocking in just 15 minutes of exercise, or reading 10 pages of a self-help book per day. The hack is to liberate yourself from that mental weight and to make the journey more enjoyable for you.
1) It simplifies productivity
As a certified productivity nerd, I can go pretty crazy with routines and schedules. But I do admit complicating things more than necessary. The 1% rule has helped me take things a day at a time. To prioritize what’s important and then break them down. For example, you might have a goal of doing 50 pushups a day, dividing that 50 in 5 rounds of 10 may be a better way of going about forming this habit.
2) It keeps dread at bay
Good habits have a reputation of being hard to build. And if you tend to feel the guilt of being unproductive or unprogressive, knowing that your daily 1% means something (if not, everything) relieves that shame. Doing so also reconditions your brain into thinking that good habits don’t have to make you miserable.
3) It gives long-term exponential results
While 1% may seem like an amount that is barely noticeable. Its compounding effect can lead up to remarkable changes. Just like how your money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.
💝 noteworthy
Book: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you, but your system. Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. Atomic Habits provides a proven system that can take you to new heights.
😌 calm corner
Matt D’Avella and author of Atomic Habits, James Clear distills complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life. They draw upon the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.