Get 1% Better Every Day
Continuous Improvement we know can lead to positive impact in organisations and our personals lives. It sounds simple but so hard in practice. Therefore when I hear examples of how people have used this approach to achieve big goals it's truly inspiring.
The Chris Nikic story is the perfect example. His story shows how a focus on small daily improvements can lead to truly dramatic results.
Chris recently completed his first Ironman in Florida. A huge achievement for anyone in life.
What makes this story so incredible are the obstacles Chris had to overcome. Living with Down Syndrome he also had open-heart surgery as a child and 4 major ear surgeries at 17. As a young adult, he struggled with balance, slow reaction time and low muscle tone.
It was following his ear surgery that Chris sat down to write his dreams, goals and the habits that would get him there:
Dec 31 2019 at 5:40 PM my parents asked me to write down my dreams (buy my own car, house and marry a smoking hot blonde) and my goal (Ironman Florida Nov 7, 2020) and my plan to Get 1% Better every day for 10 months.
On 9th November 2020, Chris became the first person with down-syndrome to finish an iron man event. WOW!
Chris' story is the perfect example of how habits are rocket fuel for success.
After setting a big audacious goal, Chris focused on building the habit of getting 1% better every single day. He focused on building a system of habits to achieve the goal of running an Ironman. He built a schedule of the tiny habits he would need to do every day. He visualised this on a huge whiteboard to track progress.
This story is a powerful demonstration of how building small habits can help us naturally move towards any goal.
Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement
James Clear
I too have applied this philosophy in my life. I've yet to run an Ironman but I've been able to form many habits by starting small: Daily Meditation, Daily Exercise, Reading 100 books a year and many others.
You too can put this into action with just a few steps. BJ Fogg, Author of Tiny Habits, has a 6 step process similar to the approach taken by Chris.
Step 1 - What is your aspiration?
Step 2 - What behaviours will help you move towards this aspiration?
Step 3 - What are the easy and impactful behaviours you can do now?
Step 4 - How can you make these behaviours easier to do?
Step 5 - What is your reminder to do the behaviour?
Step 6 - How will you celebrate!
I created a Miro Coaching Board, to help you explore these steps. It allows you to visualise and step through the process.
So what big aspirations do you have for life? What do you want to be true 12 months from now?
How, like Chris Nikic, can you get 1% better every day?
