“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu
In this article, I share an idea that I think is extremely important in creating new habits or in productivity in general. The idea is that you achieve your greatest dreams by breaking them down into small manageable goals and focusing on accomplishing one goal at a time. As you accomplish them, you build momentum that propels you to tackle bigger chunks.
To make a huge impact, all you need is consistent small improvements. Habits are built daily, not in a day. If you increase by only 1% daily, you can accomplish great things.
Stephen Duneier’s popular TED talk makes this idea eloquently. In the video (shown below), he asserts the following:
1. You can accomplish any major task if you break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces
2. Marginal/small adjustments/improvements produce big results
He illustrates this point nicely with the career of Serbian professional tennis player Novak Djokovic. The table below illustrates how marginal improvements in the percentage of points he won took him from the bottom of the back to the top of world tennis. He only needed to improve from 49% to 52% to be ranked 3rd, increasing his earnings by millions. He only needed to improve from 52% to 55% to become ranked #1 in the world and increase his earnings by more than forty times. Marginal improvements lead to huge results. See the table below produced with data from Stephen Duneier’s amazing presentation.
| 2004-2005 | 2006-2010 | 2011-2016 | |
| World Ranking | 100+ | 3rd in the world | 1st in the world |
| Prize Money | $0.3 million per year | $5 million per year | $14 million per year |
| % of Matches Won | 49% | 79% | 90% |
| % of Points Won | 49% | 52% | 55% |
Marginal improvements produce a huge impact!
He then goes on to share his own personal story of how marginal improvements took him from a C-minus student who could focus on anything for more than 5-10 minutes to an A-plus student. Marginal improvements have allowed him to do amazing things.
I was really excited to listen to Stephen Duneier’s talk because I saw the same exact phenomenon in my own life. I was a below-average, poor, and hopeless 13-year-old student in a remote village in Cameroon when I made small changes to my learning habits, and within a few years, I was an A+ student. I’m living my dreams as a physician in the U.S. largely because of those marginal changes.
Watch this talk! Amazing!
Listen to this fantastic Ted talk for inspiration to pursue your greatness.