What If 1% Better Misses the Bigger Picture?

The realness of the actual journey cannot be measured in linear 1% improvements day over day.

Progress isn’t linear.

Some growth can’t be measured in percentages or tracked on a chart.

The 1% rule assumes that improvement looks the same for everyone, every day.

But life isn’t a spreadsheet.

For many, the pressure to improve daily can lead to burnout, not betterment.

Especially in areas like creativity or relationships or business where progress is rarely simple or predictable.

And for those of us who have an alternative value system such as rest over hustle, or happiness over money, this mindset can feel out of place.

Sometimes, the best way forward is messy, immeasurable, and completely unconventional.

Let’s explore if being 1% better is holding you back.

1% better every day.

While popularized by James Clear in Atomic Habits the concept originally came from (or originally popularized) by Dave Brailsford.

Brailsford talked about the benefits of incremental improvements for cycling performance. He believed in tiny gains, that when combined, lead to significant improvements.

Brailsford said, “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”

James Clear, the New York Times bestselling author, turned this concept into a common phrase throughout self development and business circles worldwide.

He illustrated how consistent 1% improvements can compound over time to produce substantial results. Clear emphasizes that while individual changes may seem minor, their cumulative effect can be transformative.

Now, here’s I feel the advice beings to go awry.

While I agree that small improvements compound with time. And that breaking things down to a point where they seem almost to easy can produce profound impacts.

The principle implies that if you get 1% better each day for one year, you’ll end up 37% better by the time you’re down.

That’s where things can become damaging.

The principle doesn’t respect the (actual) human experience.

It’s become easy to give or receive advice like “1% Better Every Day, 37% Better Every Year.”

Except, the premise is unfortunately flawed from the start. It’s a motivational fallacy as it’s based on the premise that incremental improvement is linear in fashion.

I may be alone in this but I have not experienced linear improvement in a single endeavor in my 36 years on this earth.

From business, life, marriage, personal growth, or my income, they have looked like more like a rollercoaster than a compound interest chart.

In business, my peak monthly income was back in 2021. I achieved a month of $42,000 in sales. However, two months prior I made $11,000. And not long after the high was a month of $5,000. I have never reached (or come close to) that high in the years since.

Logically, based on this premise, I failed.

Again, throughout my personal growth journey, I’ve experience days, weeks, and months of feeling great. Followed by days, weeks, and months of the opposite where I am contemplating everything.

Incremental improvement should not be measured in a linear fashion.

It sets us up for failure because it places the emphasis (and reward) on the wrong priorities.

Life, success, or any personal endeavor does not follow a linear trajectory. There are peaks, valleys, pleateaus, and regressions. This is reality.

Expecting steady 1% improvements can create frustration, shame, and embarassment when our progress is not consistent—as the claim implies.

1% better is not quantifiable.

The concept was originally applied to sports performance.

I spent over 10 years of my life as a bodybuilder, powerlifter, personal trainer and gym owner. So I can understand the efficacy in this area. Percentage based increases are wildly used within exercise science and nutrition.

Beyond this application the principle overemphasizes the quantifiable.

How are we to measure 1% or even 37% “better”?

Am I to generalize this as “improvement” because unless it is non-subjective and numbers-based it quickly becomes impossible to quantify.

• I can measure losing 1% of body weight.

• I can measure a 1% increase in my bench press.

• I can measure a 1% increase in my investment portfolio.

• I can measure a 1% increase in my Instagram or TikTok followers.

For a moment, we’ll ignore the fact that weight loss is not linear, the stock market fluctuations and cannot be predicted, and that I have absolutely no control over my social media growth.

What happens when we explore alternative areas?

• My relationship?

• The joy and happiness I experience?

• Emotional intelligence?

• Creativity?

• Divergent thinking?

Not only are these not quantifiable, they are highly subjective.

Let’s explore my journey of writing.

In 2010, I started writing on Twitter. I posted 3,000 tweets for my agency CategoryCode before stopping.

In 2014, I built a project called Debug Magazine. An online magazine where I wrote on website design, development, and coding.

In 2017, I used writing to grow my gym L2 Fitness. I published regular articles, was a guest publisher on multiple industry websites, and wrote for local print magazines.

In 2021, I wrote dozens of articles as I contemplated my career.

Then in 2023, I started again. Writing daily with the intention of improvement. But I have no way to quantify that it’s getting better. As it’s a creative endeavor it is subjective to the person on the receiving end of it. I could feel it’s improved, and someone reading it could think it’s crap.

That doesn’t look like a 37% improvement each year, not to mention, there is no objective way to measure a 1% change or if I’ve imporve at all.

In addition to this,

This principle is impossible to apply to experiences that are qualitative, subjective, and where the “result” or “improvement” is outside of our control.

As a result it runs the risk of prioritizing measurable initiatives because the alternative can result in assumed failure. When growth may require us to break away from the traditional (measurable) path and embrace risks.

1% better to what end?

You’re enough.

This is something I remind myself of every day.

Feeling good enough to write, mentor people, charge for my services is something that I’ve struggled with over the years. Something I can still fall into now.

The basic premise of 1% better implies we’re not good enough as is. Except, we are.

I understand that this is contextual. For example, if you’re going to school to become a software engineer and you’re improving your skill set to obtain a job or get a promotion.

I believe this is different than an inability to be content or feel worthy of yourself.

This is the context that over generalizations are missing resulting in internal conflict.

When all we read about is improvement and getting better. When every mentor and social media influencer is preaching the same message. We slowly become indoctrinated into a culture that instills feelings of inadequency.

As a result, we’re constantly seeking improvement in all areas of our lives.

Oftentimes without even understanding why.

It’s been shown that through natural selection it feels better to work towards something (a goal) than it does to achieve it. This is why reaching the goal results in setting a new one only to repeat the entire process.

Because we must become 1% better.

Except, to what end… when are we good enough.

There is a lovely quote by Alan Watts that really reasonates with me.

"You are never actually experiencing the world as it is now. You are always living in a past or a future that you project upon the present. The truth is, you are not here or there — you are everywhere but where you are." — Alan Watts

Seeking a constant state of improvement leaves you living in a future you seek to achieve, often escaping the past you’re moving away from.

This happens at the expense of being present.

And when achieving a goal results in setting a new one. 1% better today leads to seeking 1% better tomorrow.

We end up chasing “there” except we will never arrive.

Well intentioned, yet misaligned.

If I don’t look too closely, I see the principle is well intentioned.

I agree that small actions can compound with time. And that it’s important to break things down into smaller and more manageable chunks.

However, I must acknowledge that even well intentioned advice when over generalized to the population as a whole can be misleading, misaligned, and harmful.

As we’ve discussed here today… How this principle does not mirror the human experience, how it’s rarely quantifiable, how it results in continous pursuit of goals, and the premise that we’re not good enough.

We must develop a kean lens to filter through popularized information and cliche statements that become cultural norms that form our beliefs.

Context is always relevant.

The real journey cannot be measured in 1% improvements.

We’re all unique.

As I’ve acknowledge many of what I deem downfalls of this principle. I must also acknowledge that some people may thrive within “1% better.” Though I still feel it may be leading us down a misguided path even if it “feels good.”

The reality is that many of us many do not thrive within this framework.

This philosophy could amplify perfectionistic thoughts, lead to burnout, produce self-doubt, or dissatisfaction when we’re unable to attain the 1% improvement.

If we’re still reaching for something to hold onto for motivation, I prefer the Japanease principle of Kaizen.

Kaizan translates to “continous improvement.”

The principle in itself does not abide by measured improvement or specified timelines. I beleive this offers more flexibility and individualization to make it our own.

Better yet, develop our own philosophy to navigate life. Pulling the good and aligned from what’s out there and discarding the rest.

A personal philosophy of mine is that of:

“I do not need to follow the traditional path or do what others are doing in order to be successful.”

It’s a a personal intention to patient, to see myself as enough, and trust in the path that I am on.

I may not see progress, so I trust that I am already enough.

I may take 12 steps back, to take 1 forward, so I trust that this my path.

I may experience slumps or lows, so I deploy patience and kindness to myself.

Life may throw me a curveball that was unexpected and did not fit the “plan.”

I may fail, I may pivot, I may burn it all down and start anew.

There is nothing wrong with this.

The realness of the actual journey cannot be measured in linear 1% improvements day over day.

Landon

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