The 10% Rule

Dear Younger Me,

All humans are wired to find deep satisfaction from this one thing…

Whether you’re an introvert or extrovert.

An athlete or an accountant.

Old or young.

Every human find deep satisfaction from this thing:

Improvement.

It may not be the #1 priority for everyone, but find me someone who does not find satisfaction in improving at something.

It could be improving in their career.

Running a faster mile.

Rr simply improving as a spouse or friend.

No matter what it is, younger me, everyone enjoys improving.

I want to suggest a new way to think about improving that is contrary to a popular belief.

You’ve heard the phrase “get 1% better everyday,” right?

Although this phrase has merit there is an issue with it.

What happens during the bad days?

What happens when you miss a day at the gym?

Or forget to text that friend you’ve been thinking of?

The goal may be 1% better everyday, but I know there will be days where you will stay stagnant.

Beyond that, there will be days where you fall behind.

You are not alone.

It happens to everyone.

The dangerous part comes when that single day of no improvement kills any and all momentum towards your pursuit of improvement.

You miss one day at the gym, then two, then three, and before you know it you never go back.

Do you get what I’m saying?

Focusing on a singular day has a dangerously short-term horizon.

Which is why I want to offer a new way of thinking:

The 10% rule.

The goal is to improve by 10% every month.

What’s different?

The 10% a month rule can account for those bad days.

Those unproductive days.

If you want to get super technical, the 10% rule means you have to improve by .33% a day.

.33% is closer to 0% improvement than 1%.

But it is still improvement.

And over the course of a month, it compounds exponentially.

Even if you are in a rut for a week you are only “behind” 2.33% from where you should be.

Rather than 7% if you had to improve 1% everyday.

Sure, there are highly aspirational people that may continue to hit 1% improvement everyday, but I can guarantee there is an even greater amount of people you stop improving because one day of no improvement throws them off the track.

How does this rule apply in the real world?

Let’s say you want to get better at pullups.

You can currently do 10 pullups.

If you wanted to improve 1% a day at pullups, then at the end of the month you would have to be able to do 13 pullups.

It may seem reasonable…

Until work gets busy and you can’t practice for an entire week.

That next week (if you even have the willpower to try again) may defeat your pursuit of the goal…

Unless you look to improve 10% a month instead.

With this framework you have to complete 11 pullups at months end.

Which may seem insignificant, but it is improvement.

Improvement that creates two key takeaways:

1. You continue improving since a bad day or bad week doesn’t stop you

2. Your continuation compounds and after 1 year you have 120% improvement over any pursuit.

Continuation and exponential improvement while mitigating bad days or weeks?

Sounds like a new mindset that can help so many people find that deep satisfaction through improvement.

I hope it is something you assess and implement in your own life.

Great improvement and deep satisfaction will follow.

Best,

Older You