One of my favourite books (one that I’ve mentioned in one of my previous articles) is Atomic Habits by James Clear.

In the book he speaks about making tiny, barely noticeable changes, that over time compound to massive results

Statistically, if you were to improve at something by 1% each day, by the end of this year you’d be 38% better at that skill.

Here’s a passage from the book:

‘I want you to imagine a plane preparing to take off from Los Angeles.

‘The plane’s destination is New York City.

‘The pilot enters all the correct information into the plane’s computer, and the plane takes off heading in the right direction.

‘But now imagine that, not long after takeoff, the pilot accidentally changes the flight path slightly.

‘He only changes it by 3.5 degrees – which is nearly nothing, just a few feet.

‘The plane’s nose shifts slightly to one side, and no one – not the pilot, not the passengers – notices anything.

‘But over the journey across the United States, the impact of this slight change would be considerable. At the end of their journey, the confused passengers – and even more confused pilot – would find themselves landing in Washington DC, not New York City.’

Just a tiny change in trajectory, over a long period can have outstanding results

There’s a phrase in Japanese called ‘Kaizen’.

It translates to change for the better or continuous improvement. The Kaizen methodology underscores that small changes now can have big future impacts.

So why am I telling you this?

Reading the book has made massive changes to my life. I’m no longer an all or nothing thinker. I no longer think that I have to completely upturn my fitness regime and lifestyle come the start of the week, or start of the month.

I know that if I make small changes (that are so easy) and I maintain those habits over time, I’m going to have outstanding results.

If I just add 500 steps a day, but every week I add another 500 steps. At the time 500 steps is nothing, it can be achieved in a matter of minutes – but if I can make that a regular thing, and have that habit ingrained – I’m on to a winner.

If you compare two people on January 1.

One who goes from no training at all to five sessions a week but loses all interest come January 20.

The second person starts slow, and adds only one session a week, but keeps that up.

Then adds a second session because it’s manageable for them, and come the summer has managed to maintain a fitness regime that works for them.

All or nothing approaches very rarely work.

Make small changes, maintain those changes – and see your life improve.

As always, thanks for reading.