𝟏% 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐆 𝐫 𝐨 𝐰 𝐭 𝐡 𝐌 𝐞 𝐭 𝐡 𝐨 𝐝; 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜 𝐡 𝐢 𝐞 𝐯 𝐢 𝐧 𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫 𝐆 𝐨 𝐚 𝐥s

Every year, billions of people earth-wide set new year goals either for achieving personal growth, business growth, or change of habit but sadly, 90% are not accompanied.

As the year winds down in less than two months, do you remember what your NEW YEAR GOALS (resolution) were?

Any positive result?

Well, one may say it's not your fault if you achieved nothing. 

Shit happens!🤷🏽‍♂️

Time has been so tough for most of us over the last few months and we are all wondering "Will we ever survive to see light at the end of the tunnel?".  Gripping with the fear of the unknown, many had laid their new year goals (resolutions) to rest making it seem like a prosaic statement. 

Why am I saying it is your fault for not achieving your New Year Goals (resolutions)?

Answer: 

1. Procrastination

2. Fear

3. Applying false growth theories or principles.

Procrastination is man's worse enemy of growth. It houses frustration, guilt, stress, and anxiety in the mind and some cases leads to serious issues like low self-esteem and depression.

It gives birth to fear making us see every step as boarding a tourist ship to North Sentinel Island. 

All these happened because we apply what I termed " The false theory of growth". A theory whereby we want to learn and master everything at the same time or copied others' growth patterns without understanding in full detail their principles. 

For our New Year Goals to be realistic, we need to apply a 1% daily growth method which must be based on the Pareto principle of 80 20 Rule.

What is the 80 20 Rule?

The 80 20 rule, otherwise known as the Pareto Principle, is one of the most helpful concepts for life and time management.

The Pareto Principle states that 20 percent of your activities will account for 80% of your results, however, it is not a hard and fast mathematical law. It is a concept. 

The key to following the 80 20 rule is to identify that roughly 20% of your actions or most productive tasks lead to the most success. This can apply to any area of your professional and personal life.

The 1% daily growth method was first used by legendary John Wooden, a US basketball coach. 

He said, “When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur.” 

His focus was on achieving 1% growth at a time. He would sit down with his players and ask them “Can you give me 1% more?” They would always say yes even though they were professional athletes, already at the top of their game. 

And then he would ask them, “What is that 1%? 

What is that one thing you can do differently?” 

The team would then hold onto that one thing, they would focus their time and energy on improving it by 1% each day and the outcome was tremendous. 

It’s easy to reject the notion of a little bit (1%) of everyday change will make the biggest improvements, but this is how nature programs things to happen. That's where habits are formed, and that's how you achieve that big, formidable goal. 

Rome was not built a day.

Yes, 1% improvements aren’t noticeable, people won't talk about and it's not going to make headlines and have no big immediate result, but they become more meaningful and realistic in the long run. 

An incredible example of small efforts accumulating significant changes is what Dave Brailsford did for British Cycling when he became the performance director in 2003.

Before his appointment, British Cycling was suffering through years of mediocrity and underwhelming performances. Upon taking the pilot seat, he was determined to change the narrative by applying the 1% growth theory but He referred to his st as “the aggregation of marginal gains”, the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in all that you do. (Read about the aggregation of marginal gains) 

Five (5) years later, His theory was proved when the British Cycling team dominated at the 2008 Olympics where they won 60% of the gold medals. 

During the ten years from 2007 to 2017, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured 5 Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.

Wow...! 

That was massive!

Well, that's the power of small improvement each day (1% growth).

To achieve such a remarkable feat, dedication is needed with the expectation that those small improvements will add up to something significant.

Remember, in the initial stages, people may laugh at you, and it may seem frustrating because there are no obvious improvements. However, as you continually get 1% better each day, by making decisions, you will find it compounds over time and these small improvements of today will be significant tomorrow. 

Don't focus on taking big steps forward or jumping the ladder for it often leads to burnout, frustration, impatience and a potential resentment for the process. 

These little things add up over the long term, which is why it’s incredibly important to realise the benefits and start implementing the 1% growth method now based on the Pareto principle of 80 20 rule.