Indeed, there is one big secret to making steady progress and it’s so obvious, once I learned it, I was stunned at how easily it works. When I do the work.
What’s even better about it is its simplicity and how easy it is to do!
Way too many New Year’s Resolutions failed… way too many items on my dream board that never manifested… way too many items on my to-do list left undone.
Can you relate?
You see, when I got so tired of struggling with losing weight, not moving forward on manifesting my dreams, staying in a job that wasn’t fulfilling, I realized I just needed help in making steady progress. The door was opened to me to take the Master Key Experience where I found so much help… and results!
Mark and Davene Januszewski, the co-creators of this incredible class, granted me a scholarship, and along with other tools to help me find and live my life of bliss, introduced me to incrementalism.
Incrementalism, a big word, but a really small effort is the true secret to making steady progress.
Making Steady Progress the Easy Way
So here’s how it works. Instead of jumping right into expecting the giant dream to fall in my lap this week, I take small steps toward it, making steady progress each day.
Simply put, you’re making steady progress by achieving 1% more each day. So, for example, if you want to lose 10 pounds, you don’t focus on the result, you focus on the daily action that will get you there. For example, maybe it’s adding more vegetables to your diet, or adding more movement into your day.
Often, we think we’re making steady progress because of what we deny ourselves. “Yippee, I skipped dessert today.” You should celebrate wins like that, but the incrementalism theory focuses on what actions we take from a positive perspective, measuring and celebrating the daily 1% achievements. Our subconscious tends to make negatives out of denials, so it ignores them or avoids them. Instead of skipping something, think about adding something (more vegetables, more activity).
Maybe you decide that walking every day is how you want to achieve your ideal weight. You can use your 1% target to help you in making steady progress. Let’s say you want to prepare for a 5k walk, which should help you achieve your goal and you’ve not been very active. That’s about 3.1 miles. So start with 1%. That would be about .03 miles on your first time out. Two blocks is about 1/10 of a mile (depending, of course, on where you live), so even if you walked only one block, you’ve already surpassed your goal and hit about .05 miles!
On your next day, take a few steps more, and you’re making steady progress by adding 1% to your previous day, and so on. Instead of lengthening your major walk, maybe you just add those extra 1% steps by parking further away from the entrance when you go to work or get those steps in at other times during the day, maybe walk the stairs at lunch.
Choose Your Target and Get Started
So what do you want more of in your life? Use incrementalism, or the 1% daily gain target for making steady progress and actually getting you there faster, not slower!
Maybe it’s just adding more movement in your day to help your body be more flexible. Increase the amount of time you spend by 1% a day until you are making steady progress and hitting your goal of maybe an hour a day.
Maybe it’s adding more healthy vegetables into your daily eating plan. Add 1% until you get to your total servings target of 5 or even 7.
If it’s business goals you’re after, incrementalism can help you there too! Only found yourself making two cold calls all week? What’s your target? 5 per day? Just set your calendar or your phone alarm to make that 1% improvement per day and watch the magic unfold!
The Magic of Making Steady Progress
Yes, I refer to it as magic. So many miraculous things happen when you pursue your goals using this method:
- You find that your focused progress translates into solid habits that are completely effortless.
- You just move into doing what’s needed without even thinking about it.
- You feel great because after a few weeks, you’re seeing how the dream isn’t so far away anymore.
- Best of all, you realize that YOU have so much control of your life and it opens you to how much more you can do and be.
And here’s a beautiful example of a young man who created a miracle life by following incrementalism. Check out Chris Nikic’s story. What an inspirational young man, the first person with Down’s Syndrome ever to complete an Ironman competition. And he’s on a mission to do even more, and to help others grow in their own capability.
I might have gotten what I have in my life by crying and trying, but once the Master Key Experience program gave me hands-on support to implement powerful tools like this one, the doors to so much more opened for me. It can for you too. You can’t buy this course, but you can get on our waiting list now for an early shot at a scholarship next year. Hope to meet you there!
