Can you get 3x better at whatever you are passionate about in less than 1 year?
No? Seem lofty? Too much growth too fast?!.....
Can you get 1% better in a day?
Can you do that for 300 days straight?
If you can, at the end of the 300 days you'll be more than 3x better than when you started!
This is The Snowball.
Goals can seem too lofty when you try to achieve them all at once. Even unattainable. When we break them down into smaller, more consumable portions, they become more achievable. 1% at a time, day after day, with consistent habitual growth, we can compound action into great momentum for change. An investment account, a muscle, a jump shot, whatever we want it to be, we can incrementally move towards our goals by improving 1 small increment at a time. And much like a snowball rolling down a hill, we pick up momentum, and a little bit of snow on each revolution. (a wink from Warren)
If this is the key, then there are no great secrets to massive leaps, because there are no massive leaps. Only small increments. Show up every day. Repeat the positive motion towards your goal. One day at a time.
If you're human, its most likely that you'll get 5% better some days, while others only .5% better. "Up days" and "down days" are all a part of a human's cyclical nature. The secret sauce is in getting yourself there no matter what on the "down days," and basking in the momentum on the "up days." Just getting yourself to the gym on a day when you are low energy, getting a very small set of exercises in, can move the needle. And thats all that matters. It all balances out if you show up everyday and commit to the motion.
In an interview with Hugh Jackman on his work ethic, he spoke about how we are never stagnant. We are either growing, or we are shrinking. Either getting stronger, or getting weaker. I agree. We chose action every day. Staying home from the gym is an action. Not looking at your bank account is an action. Not drinking water is an action. Same as the opposites. Whichever action you chose, you will yield the reaction of, negative or positive.
Therefore, there is no day when we can just throw it in neutral and stay the same. We will decline on the off day. Hence the saying "No off days"
The snowball rolling down the hill doesn't take a brief break to stop moving in the middle of the hill. If it stops, it stops until it starts again. The object in motion stays in motion. The object at rest stays at rest, said Sir Isaac Newton.
The funny thing about this is that it takes the most amount of effort in the beginning to create momentum. Therefore stopping the momentum not only kills what we had going, but then creates a new need for immense momentum generation to start again. The gas required to idle a vehicle is much less than the gas required to start it. Many people live their lives in a vicious cycle of mustering up the effort to start momentum, starting it, fizzle out after a view revolutions, and then stopping the momentum once again. They then go into neutral for a while until something motivates them to start again. Back to square 1. They must now generate all that immense momentum to start again, and so on. Throughout life they repeat this cycle many times, therefore, exerting far more effort over their lifetime than those who just keep the ball rolling. Folks in the ladder exert much less effort, and attain far higher speeds and distances. Imagine that! It takes more effort to fail, than it does to succeed.
The snowball is sooo incredibly powerful because of this momentum. Your job is to not hinder the momentum of the snowball, no matter what. Just show up, every day, and keep it rolling!
~ If you are looking for inspiration on how to keep the ball rolling I highly recommend the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. It's full of great information on how to create and keep great habits and momentum towards your goals. And of course! Keep reading my blog as I will be addressing like these! ~
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