Are You Undervaluing Your Long-Term Potential?
The enormous power of 1% improvement
🏷️ Categories: Mathematics, Habits, Continuous improvement.
In ancient India, a generous king offered the best advisor of his court the chance to indulge 1 of his wishes.
The counselor, known for his intelligence, made a surprising request.
“You do not know how much I thank you for this privilege, my lord. For my loyalty to the kingdom, I wish to be rewarded in grains of rice and nothing more than that. Let us use a chessboard to calculate the amount I desire. Place 1 single grain of rice on the first square of the board, 2 on the second, 4 on the third and follow the same rule for the amount of rice until you cover all the squares, I ask no more than that.”
The emperor, pleased by the humility of the request, readily agreed.When the board began to fill, the emperor discovered that the debt was so colossal that his vast empire could never repay it. The emperor owed the counselor the humble sum of 18446744073709551616 grains of rice.
There is something we tend to underestimate: exponential growth.
It's so subtle at first that it's almost invisible.
But if it accumulates, it becomes unstoppable.
The power of exponential growth
In 1975, engineer Roy Amara formulated what we now call Amara's Law.
“We tend to overestimate the short-term effects of technology and underestimate its long-term effects” (Oxford University, 2016).
We find it hard to imagine the dizzying growth it can cause.
If you think about it, a similar tendency occurs in our lives. At first, any effort seems fruitless. For example:
Investments: In the beginning, we may find ourselves with very modest savings, but compound interest means that those small savings can grow into a fortune if you manage them well over time.
Contacts: When you're young, it seems hard to break into the working world, you don't know anyone and there are hardly any opportunities in sight. However, a few contacts lead you to others, and those to still many more. So you end up with countless opportunities as time goes by.
Entrepreneurship: Starting a business is really hard, especially during the first few years, but if we manage to grow it, its profitability can skyrocket.
The initial improvements are insignificant and we underestimate them, we see only the short term because it is easier to visualize. But let's assume for a moment that we improve by 1% every day for a year. At the end of the year you will be 37 times better (Clear, 2018).
Conversely, neglecting that 1% can lead you to stagnation.
Choosing a healthy food today will not change your life, but do it for 365 days and you will see the results in your energy, health and well-being. The same goes if you save a little money each month, practice a language daily or work on your project.
The key is consistency, not perfection.
One bad day doesn't ruin your progress, but if you let it become a habit, that's where the trouble starts. As Seneca said, “To err is human; but to persevere in error is diabolical”.
How to accelerate your growth from the start
I know patience isn't easy, especially when the initial results aren't exciting. But here are 2 strategies that can change the game:
1. Break your goals into ridiculously small steps.
The problem with many goals is that they feel so big that we don't even start. The solution: lower the barrier to entry (Babauta, 2021).
Eat healthy: Instead of trying to change your entire diet all at once, start by cutting back on sweets. If you have dessert after every meal, replace it with a piece of fruit. When you feel good, add another small change, such as including more protein, vegetables and less fat in your meals.
Playing sports: Want to run but get discouraged quickly? Start with 1 kilometer three times a week. Can't? Then run 500 meters three times a week. Make it as small as you need and then increase it little by little.
Writing: Do you struggle to write and get stuck? I've been there too. Start writing a few paragraphs a day and practice journaling. Eventually, you'll go from writing paragraphs to entire essays effortlessly.
It's the same for anything you can imagine. Just get started, then you'll shoot your pace.
2. Choose a strategy with better growth
Sometimes, you don't have to work harder, but smarter.
I'll explain it with a personal example.
Several people have asked me why, if I write so much, I haven't decided to write a book. My answer is always the same: “It's not the place to get better.”
Think of it this way: would you go climb Everest on your first mountaineering trip? Probably not. Climbing Everest is a huge goal, and to achieve it you need a lot of preparation and experience. Writing a book requires a monumental investment of time and effort. You will spend months, even years, working without really knowing how you are doing. No one will give you feedback during the process.
Now, if you write on the Internet, the picture changes completely.
From day one you know which texts are interesting and which are not. You have immediate feedback from those who enjoy reading you, which allows you to constantly adjust and improve. It's like going to the gym with a personal trainer: the rate of growth is much higher because you receive valuable information every day.
If you choose the right strategy, your improvement curve can be much faster.
However, don't get overwhelmed if results don't come immediately. Focus on learning and applying small improvements constantly. It's about building a system that makes progress inevitable. If you can commit to that 1% every day, time will surprise you.
Where can you find your 1% today?
✍️ It's your turn: What small improvements can you implement today to enhance your future growth? Think about new skills, routines....
💭 Quote of the day: “If you want to lift a hundred kilos, don't expect to succeed the first time. You start with a lighter weight and work your way up little by little. In reality, you don't succeed in lifting a hundred pounds, every day, until the day you succeed. But it's on the days you push yourself that the growth happens.” Norman Doidge, The Brain that Changes Itself.
See you next time! 👋
References 📚
Babauta, L. (2021). The Habit Guide: Zen Habits’ Effective Habit Methods + Solutions: Zen Habits’.
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones.
Oxford University. (2016). Oxford essential quotations. URL
Thank you for the reminder! I'm in year 2 of growing my Sunflower Christian Coaching business. Focusing on making those connections and contacts this year. I've been publishing weekly on Substack for a year now, so I'm really proud of that!