Small Decisions Matter: The 1% ‘Marginal Gains’ Rule

The little decisions we make every moment of every day add up to major results for the good or bad of our lives. The SemperVerus motto reminds us to Stay True to what is right in every step we take and every choice we make.

Illustrating this is the Marginal Gains Rule: small changes lead to significant outcomes. This article offers this example:

“Sir Dave Brailsford, former performance director of British Cycling, believed making a 1% improvement in a host of tiny areas would result in extraordinary cumulative benefits. The theory of marginal gains can be credited for vaulting the British cycling team from a mediocre performer to 16 gold medals over two Olympics and seven Tour de France wins in eight years. The dedicated focus on improvement in the smallest of tasks is what separates the elite few from wayward others.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Make Your Bed, Change Your World ]

“Success is a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; while failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day.” —Jim Rohn

This article by James Clear, author of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, says:

“Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship, or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement that everyone will talk about.

“Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even noticeable—but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.”

There is power in small improvements and slow gains.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Building An Iron Mindset ]


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