The 1% Rule

Habits don't change in a day. But 1% a day makes every habit work. Every.

The reason is: they work if you do a little each day. If you relax and give yourself permission to only improve a little each day, then a good habit works.

Improve a little each day. It compounds. When 1% compounds every day, it doubles every 72 days, not every 100 days. Compounding tiny excellence is what creates big excellence.

You can't be a master in one day. You have to improve a little every day.

Picasso created two works of art a day. That's 50,000 in a lifetime. It adds up.

"But it's too late for me!"

No, it's not. Compounding creates fast results.

If I read five pages a day from non-fiction books, then in a year I will have read 1,830 pages of knowledge. And each page I read will build upon the pages I've read before.

And it's 1,830 pages 99% of people won't read. Most people don't pick up a book after age 20.

If I write 1,000 words a day, then in one day that's nothing. In one year, that's the equivalent of 6–8 novels.

It doesn't happen in one day. There are no goals. There's only practice. Practice never makes perfect. Practice makes happy. Practice makes habits.

I started writing 23 years ago. Every day I read a little. Every day I wrote. I wanted to get better.

I was very bad at the beginning.

I just looked at some fiction I wrote 23 years ago. WOW! Very bad.

Every day I wake up and think, how can I be a little better? Just a tiny bit. Because I know it will make me feel good today to practice. And I know it will add up.

-- James Altucher