1% shifts
‘You just need to make 1% shifts and your life will transform”.
The concept of 1% shifts is phenomenal. It makes achieving goals incredibly easy to breakdown. However most people still don’t make the 1% simple enough. I approach the 1% method of goal planning to that of Biomechanics- because I’m a nerd and I love the science behind it. In Biomechanics every tiny little action has to happen in order for you to have one fluid movement that creates the greatest performance. Every single action is connected. It is exactly the same for every goal you have. When you can really pull apart every piece you can learn about what part of the processes you get stuck at, then work at determining how to overcome it.
To demonstrate this to you I have placed in the rest of this blog post a start on the 1% shifts you need to get exercising in the morning. Take a read.
1% Shifts to Exercise Daily
Place clean gym clothes in a place where you will immediately see them with as little effort in the morning. Eg: on the floor beside your bed or in the bathroom so you put them on post your first toilet visit of the day.
Set alarm for 5am.
Go to sleep.
Turn off alarm (whether it alarmed before you or not).
Put gym clothes on that are beside the bed
Go to the toilet
Scrub teeth
Brush hair
Put on socks trainers (left in the bathroom), tie laces.
Pick up house keys (left in the same place each night)
Pick up mobile phone and put in pocket.
Leave and lock the house
Set a goal to walk for 1 minute
Now that the 1 minute is done commit to another 5 minutes.
Pay attention to what is around you, the sounds, smells, the way the light looks, how you feel.
Workout for another 5 minutes.
This may seem incredibly granular and silly when you are planning your goals out like this however there are a few things that you notice while you do it.
Firstly, you’ll know something that you need to change. For example it might be: my alarm needs to be away from the bed so I don’t snooze and sleep again and then you’ll change step 1 to get up and turn off alarm.
Secondly, you’ll notice that achieving your goals is actually as simple as doing 1 thing at a time, literally. When one thing is done you focus only on the next thing. This intention allows you to not get overwhelmed and just see it all as a process.
Have you tried 1% shifts like this before? Give it a go. Treat it as if you are telling someone who has never done any of the 1% actions before, miss out a step? Add it in. You’ll find that this will serve you in any condition especially when you feel exhausted, stuck in a rut, completely inadequate which we all feel from time to time. These steps take the thinking out of it, reduce your cognitive (or mental) load and enable you to tick of the tasks.
Let me know how you go at creating these 1% shifts for each of your goals. I would love to hear about your successes!
Till next time,
Jules :)