I consider myself well informed. I have a career in health care. I have a college degree and few certifications that require ongoing education to maintain them. I encounter patients with end-stage health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer on a daily basis. You would think a person with my experience would do whatever it takes not to end up with one of these health issue, but I do not.
I fail to take action. I am not a doctor; but I have enough knowledge to recognize a lifestyle that would lead to health issues down the line. I eat healthy; I do not drink or smoke, but I do not exercise. It is easy to tell a patient to exercise regularly, to eat a healthy diet, to stop smoking or to quit substance abuse, but this is only information without an action plan. Most of us know what to do but we fail do what we’re supposed to.
A smoker at an early stage of lung disease knows he/she should quit. Most obese people know they should diet and exercise; I know I should exercise. People in debt know they should budget, cut consumption, or get a second job. If you want to grow or change, you know you should step out of your comfort zone. If you are in an unhealthy relationship, you probably know what to do. If you’re unhappy with your career, you should consider improving your education or training, getting a different job, or starting a business. We all have something we wish to change, but we keep procrastinating.
Changes are difficult to maintain. Most of us have started a budget, a diet, or an exercise routine that have failed. One of the secrets to success is starting small. Aim to change something by One percent per day. It is difficult to quantify 1% of your life. But if you managed to improve your life by 1% everyday, you would be 38x better at the end of the year. One percent is not much; it could be one less cigarette, swapping a can of soda for a bottle of water, walking for one more minute, using one less plastic bag, or saving $1/day.
Lets say you improve your exercise routine by 1% per day, in a year you would be 38x better that when you started. If we include compounding effect, that small change will start to spill over to other aspects of your life. Your confidence, your mental and physical health, your wardrobe, and your life expectancy would also improve. A percent of your life is not easily defined but a small change can be easily noted. You do not have to be the best when you start, you just have to progressively improve something by small margins everyday.
In a purely linear situation, a 1%/day mean you will have 365 more items at the end of the year. But with compound effect or exponential growth, 1.01^365×100 ≃ 3,678% better. To make life simpler, I am assuming you improve by 1% on a linear scale. Logically, the math makes sense. But in reality, it is very difficult to make your life 38x or 3,678% better in a year. Don’t get hung up on the math, just focus on continuous improvement. In real life, an improvement in one area of your life tends to improve another aspect of your life. If you improved you finance, there is a likelihood that stress will decrease, healthy food will become attainable, medical check ups will be affordable, and you might be able to afford housing in a safe neighborhood. Just take action. Actions will produce results; math will help you see the possibilities.
In the end, there is a bridge between knowledge and action. All we need is the discipline or courage to take one step at a time toward the desired outcomes. Habits define what we do. Get into the habit of making a small positive change everyday. You owe it to yourself; as Spike Lee would say, “Do the right thing.”
Thank you for reading.
You can also read:
