The 1% Productivity Principle

Let's talk about baby steps...

You can't improve 100% of your life today, but you can improve 1% in several areas of your life today.

If you take this approach of small continuous improvement – of making lots of tiny little changes in on a regular basis – over time you'll be able to upgrade many aspects of your life and over time you can be in an entirely different place.

Countless studies tell us that people resist extreme change. That is to say that if you think you can wake up one morning and become a highly disciplined individual, then you're in for a big surprise.

In order for change to be successful it needs to be incremental and it must become part of your daily life in the form of tiny new habits. Look for small changes you can make to your lifestyle that can help to serve you in some tiny way in improving your life.

These small 1% changes should be so small that they are relatively painless to implement. But, not matter how tiny they are, if you will stick to them, you will begin to see small positive results that will encourage you to continue and maybe even add a new one here and there.

The number one motivation killer is the avoidance of perceived pain. Difficulty, uncertainty, and the like are forms of discomfort and discomfort is just another way of describing pain. If it seems unpleasant in any way, our brain wants no part of any level… no pain or unpleasantness.

In fact, UCLA behavioral scientist, Robert Maurer, found that any change or dreaded thing a person experiences, even if it benefits them, is perceived as a threat and can stop them from being motivated to take action. Basically, the brain says “no way”.

However, the honest truth is this… everything that is painful for us isn’t necessarily bad for us. Now, is it?

The way to avoid triggering that avoidance is to make the task or change seems so small that it’s impossible for someone to dread it or fail at it. This is known as a micro commitment, an incremental baby step you can take to move forward without feeling fear, dread, or discomfort around the action.

For example, a person who can’t seem to start exercising, even though they know it’s good for them, can set a ridiculous goal of doing just one push-up or sit-up for the next day. Their brain thinks that would be easy and doesn’t resist it. The end result is, since they’re already on the floor, they decide to do more.

Let’s say you’re putting off cleaning your home. What would a micro-commitment look like in that situation? Well, you could tell yourself that you’re going to vacuum the little entry rug at your front door today. When you do that very easy and simple task, you had to get the vacuum cleaner out. Since you’re up and have the vacuum our, you might as well tackle some carpet. And who knows, that sense of accomplishment could even lead to some dusting.

I think you get the point. You are literally tricking your brain to think something it doesn’t resist you moving forward. I mean that movement may actually even turn into some momentum.

Sir Isaac Newton once declared that an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object that is motionless will tend to stay motionless. So, the trick is to get yourself moving so that your baby steps can eventually turn into meaningful progress.

So, can you think of some micro-commitments, baby steps, or low-hanging fruit that will get you off of your rear end and get you moving again?