Imagine this: After a narrow defeat in interclub, you make a big resolution. From now on you will practise your serve for an hour every day. You keep it up for three days. Then come a full day at work and an evening with the family, and the resolution has vanished.
It was not your willpower. The step was simply too big. The idea of “1% better every day” turns this around: you do not set yourself something big once a year, you take one small step every day. Each day builds on the one before. That works at work, in your family, at school and on the tennis court.
What “1% better” means
1% better means 1% more every day. Having a conversation a little more honestly. Living a habit a little more consciously. Keeping a rally going a little longer than in your last practice. The step is so small that it fits into even a full day.
There is a simple piece of arithmetic to go with it. If you add 1% every day for a year, you calculate 1.01 to the power of 365. That gives about 37.8, so almost 38 times as much. If things slip back by 1% every day, about 0.03 is left after a year. I like this picture. Life does not, of course, calculate so precisely. But the picture shows that progress does not simply add up. It builds on itself.
Why small steps last longer
In Japan this attitude is called Kaizen: improving a little every day. Because each single step is manageable, you stick with it. A small step does not put you off, not even after a long day.
Then there is the power of repetition. Every repetition strengthens the connections in the brain that belong to a behaviour. That is why new things get easier over time and eventually become second nature. What you do every day shapes you more than what you do now and then.
And finally, the right comparison counts. If you see your own progress, you stay more motivated than someone who constantly measures themselves against others. I am not R3 yet, but I want to get there. On that path, small, fixed steps help me more than any big resolution.
The exercise: Daily steps
The tool for this is called “Daily steps”. It helps when you want to grow in an area and don’t know where to start. Take ten minutes and something to write with.
- Choose an area: Ask yourself where in your life you want to grow. Decide on one single area.
- Set your 1%: Write down what your step looks like there in concrete terms. It should be doable in a few minutes.
- Do it: Take the step that same day, while the decision is fresh.
- Record it: Mark the step with a symbol of your own, such as a star in your calendar.
- Build on it: The next day, think about how your new step can build on the last one.
In short: 1% more every day. The next day you build on it. If the step is too big for you, halve it. Two minutes are enough to begin with. If it gets too easy after a week, add a second area.
Examples from everyday life and tennis
You decide for yourself what your 1% looks like. A few ideas to try:
- Work: You work on your most important task for ten minutes before you open your emails.
- Family: At dinner, your phone stays in another room.
- School: You learn five words for the French test every evening instead of fifty at the weekend.
- Tennis on your own: You do ten ball tosses for your serve and count how many land in the right place.
- Tennis in practice: You take exactly one focus onto the court, for example “deep” or “prepare early”.
You can read exactly how the ball toss exercise works in the post Ball toss on the serve: how to practise it. It shows well how a few minutes a day turn into measurable progress.
Make your progress visible
What you can see, you can appreciate. Even a simple mark in the calendar shows the brain that something is moving. So invent your own symbol for your daily 1%, such as a star or a small circle. Put it in your calendar every evening and watch how long your chain gets.
In tennis, numbers help you too. Note, for example, your hits in an exercise or your longest run in a rally. After a few weeks the numbers show you what has shifted. Every seven days a short review is worthwhile: read your notes and give a star to the step that worked best.
Typical mistakes and how to avoid them
- Starting too big: An hour a day sounds impressive but rarely lasts. Start so small that it almost seems too easy.
- Too many things at once: If you try to improve your serve, your sleep and your diet at the same time, you soon lose track.
- The wrong comparison: Measure yourself against yourself, not against the club champion or your colleague at the office.
- All or nothing: If you miss a day, you simply carry on the next. 1% better does not mean perfect.
Frequently asked questions about “1% better every day”
What does Kaizen mean?
Kaizen is a Japanese term for the attitude of improving a little every day. Instead of one big leap, many small steps count. Because each step is manageable, you are more likely to stick with it.
Is the sum with 1.01 to the power of 365 correct?
Mathematically yes, the result is about 37.8. In real life, though, progress is not that even. The number is a picture of how daily steps build on one another.
What do I do if I miss a day?
Simply carry on the next day. One missed day does not make your chain worthless. Even on days when little goes right, there is often a small per cent to be found.
How to carry on with the companion
The digital companion “1% better every day” stays with you for 52 weeks and 365 days, with about ten minutes each day. It works with methods from NLP, for example on communication, listening, language, goals and habits. Every page has a short thought, an “In short” section, an exercise and a question to write about.
The first week is called “1% more every day”. You find out where you want to grow and draw your wheel of life as a starting point. You draw this wheel again every three months and so see what has grown. You compare yourself with yourself a year ago and ask what your self in a year’s time would pass on to you. On the sixth day you invent your symbol for progress. On the seventh day come the weekly review, a short knowledge check and the tool card “Daily steps”.
Want to use the principle specifically for your mind on the tennis court? Then the Mental Journal by Tennis Schweiz is a good fit, with 91 days and about five minutes of practice each.
You will find more posts under All posts from Better in everyday life.
