Musings 1.0
I’ve recently been on a bit of a self improvement kick which, at this current stage, feels like a pretty solid and sustainable process to be following. Let me back it up a bit and explain what I’m talking about before I get to the point of this article and what ‘Musings’ is all about.
One of my key pillars for the past few years has always been around learning and improving and there’s a ton of ways to achieve this but i’ve never really found one solid and consistent thing to do. Between reading, podcasts, writing, focusing on physical health, focusing on mental health, there’s a lot there to become quickly overwhelmed by when you have this pillar to uphold.
But I’m quickly learning that it’s fine to have a bunch of different ways of learning. The challenge has often become how I retain that information in a meaningful and memorable way. That’s where ‘Musings’ comes in.
I refrain from applying some very cheap alliteration and calling this ‘Monday Musings’ but the fact of the matter is this is something I want to do weekly, on a Monday, where I combine one thing that’s been interesting me that week, with a small piece of photography captured and supplied by yours truly.
It’s part learning, part challenge, part accountability, and part value in a sense. I see it as a way to commit myself to reflecting on the various things I learn each week that I believe someone reading this journal could benefit from.
But why the photography?
Well that’s kind of it’s own side quest that seems to fit well in this format. I have always loved taking photos but it has never been a consistent passion of mine and I really want to challenge myself to not only be more consistent, but to grow creatively as well. Plus, these articles all need a cover photo and who better to take them than the author?
On to this week’s thought then…
James Clear’s “1% better” philosophy.
This is a widely known concept, especially with the massive popularity of ‘Atomic Habits’ but it is something that I resonate with in a massive way. I was introduced to a similar concept by Owen Wright back when we were both going through our own rehabilitations and the advice I got from him was to forget about the person you used to be before the injury, just try your best to be a little bit better today than you were yesterday and see how far that takes you.
This obviously lends itself to the same outcomes from the 1% better theory in themes of consistency, habits, a long term vision and the idea that it’s the small things you do today that add up over time to create big change. A quality mindset to take on for a range of goals and ambitions, not just rehabilitation and recovery but one thing that struck me this week is when you look at 1% better from a mathematical perspective.
These numbers may not be right and I’d be happy to gain perspective if my takeaway is wrong but I looked into what the actual, numerical improvement of being 1% better every day is over a 12 month period. And the results are quite staggering.
If you started today, after 12 months you would be roughly 38x better than you are right now. That is an absolutely incredible return!
I know in the real world the results are mixed. I looked for some practical examples where this 38x improvement would show up and it makes sense in a financial or self improvement setting. But there was one return saying you could go from running one mile in 10 minutes, to running it in just over 15 seconds… So it’s not a perfect mathematical outlook.
However, if you think of the improvements you could make in a number of different areas of life, that’s where the true value in this perspective lies. It’s all about incremental improvements that help take away the anxiety surrounding the “when and where” of the finish line. It’s about focussing on today and putting one foot in front of the other.
My experience has shown me the value of this approach and that’s why I continue to use it as I do today. I’m trying to learn, I’m trying to grow, I’m trying to write, and I’m trying to take photos and I hope I can look back on these early posts in 12 months time and see some sort of improvement.
Whatever the outcome, it won’t be through a lack of trying.
Canon G12. ISO 80 | f8 | 1/30