Small Wins, Big Impact

Good day. This is Dr. Jana Price-Sharps from Mindpilot. Today we're going to talk about a concept that I did not develop. It was developed by a man by the name of Dave Brailsford. He was a coach for cyclists, and he came up with the concept of 1% of marginal gains. And he calls it the 1% marginal gains rule. So what is that? Well, so often people, like January 1st, right? They write out all their goals, they write out everything they want to accomplish, they hit the gym hard, they start really diving into self-development or diet or whatever they're working on. And then two to three months into that, it kind of wanes and they get distracted by other things and life starts happening. And I think my guess is most of us have been there. And so what he did is he took over as a coach for a cyclist group, professional cyclists, and he started looking at little tiny details that could make all the difference in whether or not that that team won whatever they were competing in. And so he started looking at, for instance, the pillows that they slept on, uh what their seat on their uh bicycle was like, um, just very small details that just increased the likelihood of overall performance. And what I like about this concept is he just added small things in at a time that started making a difference, and then that cumulative difference really impacted them. So I want you to think about your own self-development and think about one thing every week that you can begin to add in. It could be something very small. Maybe you, I don't know, go to bed 30 minutes earlier. Maybe you get up 30 minutes earlier and you work out. Maybe you add some water in. Maybe you take your spouse out on date night, which you haven't done since your kids turned two and your kid is now 14. You know, what are those little tiny steps that you can begin to take that begin adding up to make your life better? To make it so that you're happier, your family's happier, you just have a better overall quality of life. Maybe you need to get a different pillow. I don't know. Maybe you need to be careful what you're watching before you go to sleep at night. Maybe you need to eat a little bit earlier in the evening so you don't have acid reflux at night before you, you know, or when you go to sleep. You know, each one of those changes by itself is probably not going to be a life changer. But you st they start adding up. And as they add up, your life will get better and better. So how do you begin to determine where you start? I tell people, start with the easiest thing. What is the easiest thing that you can do this week that will get you one knot closer? Again, each person's life is different, each person's needs are different, but maybe it's just I'm gonna drink an extra cup of water each day so that as the adrenaline is breaking down in my system, the water can pull it out of my joints so I don't feel so achy. Okay. Maybe you're going to take the dog for a walk around the park and for 15 minutes. Maybe you haven't really moved your body around a whole lot. Don't try and start with, you know, an hour and a half workout if you haven't been to the gym in three years. Start small. Allow yourself to start small, but it's also easier to keep up with it if you do start small. So it's like, okay, I'm gonna get a nice water bottle, and maybe you like ice and water, maybe you don't like ice and water, maybe you want to uh drink it three different times in a day rather than throughout the day. Well, you decide that, but make it a priority this week. You know, it is uh something that you can start and then at the end of the week, go, how did I do? Did I follow through with that? If you didn't, start it the following week and work on it until you get that perfected, then go to the next thing. Don't try and do manger overhauls with your life. Some people can do that and sometimes it works. But more often than not, what happens is people get very overwhelmed, life starts happening, the kids need you to go somewhere, the in-laws need you to revamp their porch, I don't know, things start happening, and then those changes go to the side. So start small, but start and then stick with that one thing. And then when that kind of settles in as a new habit, then pick one more thing to add in. You will find if you do this that your life will be much better. Because remember, you really do have the right to be happy. You really do have the right to have a good life, but you gotta choose it and you gotta take action. So I hope this was helpful. Give it some thought, but start today. I hope you have a wonderful day. This is This is Dr. Jana Price-Sharps from Mind Pilot.