Ever heard the saying “day by day?” The same principle can apply to making positive changes for the better in our lives. Small progress every single day adds up to big improvements over time. This concept is referred to as “1% improvements!” The fact is, big changes can be abrupt and overwhelming, and can often fall short-lived. However, making more gradual changes ensures that you steadily acclimate to smaller adjustments, forming habits and systems that last a lifetime. Let’s dive into how to use the concept of 1% improvements to your own benefit:
Forming Habits
1% improvements emphasize the power of consistency. Encourage kids to adopt good habits by working in small increments to their routine each day. Whether it’s practicing a musical instrument for an extra five minutes, reading an additional 5 pages in a book, or trying one bite of a new food, these tiny advancements lead to substantial progress over weeks, months, and even years. The key is repetition, forming strong habits that we keep with us as we go through life’s journey!
Learning Opportunities
Another way to utilize 1% improvements is to understand the importance of learning from our mistakes. Remind kids that mistakes or setbacks are not final nor fatal, but that they are opportunities for learning and growth. Reframing these moments with this mindset will allow kids to learn how to identify areas where they can use improvement, rather than feeling discouraged. Then, they can analyze what went wrong and make slight adjustments to do better next time. As long as we learn from them, making small mistakes can actually be beneficial to our future!
Progressive Goal Setting
Finally, the idea of 1% improvements implies that changes take time; they don’t happen overnight. It’s important for kids to remember that the road to mastery for nearly all skills is not a short one, but one full of consistent training to improve bit by bit. Teach kids the value of patience, and have them start small. Once they can handle the first “level” with ease, increase the scale a little bit. Keep progressing them slowly, and before they realize it, they’ll be achieving bigger and bigger goals they once could only imagine! Whether it’s furthering our understanding of difficult academic concepts, or learning how to master an instrument, it’s going to take time and progressive goal setting!
In Our Classes…
Our class structure revolves entirely around the concept of 1% improvements. From white belt to black belt, there are 14 total ranks our students will achieve, and the process takes a few years to complete. With that in mind, within the few months that students spend at each belt level, they are encouraged to be consistent with training every day in order to gradually meet the requirements to get to their next rank. Each time they come to class, our instructors challenge our classes to find something to improve on, whether it be power, stances, or speed. Our team is also trained to help kids realize when they make mistakes, and optimistically help them learn from them. Our program is designed to encourage kids to practice the 1% improvement philosophy.
In Conclusion
With the 1% improvement approach, children discover that their daily efforts, no matter the size, accumulate into substantial growth. It’s not about making grand, sudden changes, but rather embracing the power of consistent, incremental progress. Try making 1% improvements in your life each day, and see what positive changes you can make!
