Vishen Lakhiani presents the '1% rule' (from James Clear's Atomic Habits): improving by 1% each day compounds to ~37.78% improvement after one year. He argues most people waste small pockets of time (e.g., waiting in lines) and recommends deliberately setting aside 20 minutes daily for personal-growth learning (reading, podcasts, Mindvalley quests). He practices this by waking earlier and notes organizations can support it (Mindvalley delays meetings).
Questions this video answers
Approximately 37.78% better.
20 minutes per day.
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Every single day, we have a choice. We can get a tiny bit better or a tiny bit worse. One of the most powerful ideas I've ever learned is an idea called the 1% rule from James Clear. I interviewed James for the Mindvalley podcast. He wrote a brilliant book called Atomic habits. And the 1% rule is really interesting. It says, what if you could improve yourself by just 1% every day? So check out this chart that James uses to help illustrate this point. If you get better by 1% every day, after one year, you are actually 37.78% better. Think about that. That's 37.78% more you, a better you. And that shows in someone. It shows in the way you look, in the way you carry yourself, in the income you earn, in the type of people you associate with. And that's basic math. But most people don't do that. Most people fail to make any decision in regards to that choice. And so they let the days unfold for them and blindly, with no intention. Well, think about this. In our day, we have this thing called time. Most of us waste our time. Look at these stats. On average, we spend 12 minutes waiting for a train, 22 minutes at a restaurant waiting for a meal. If you go to the post office, you're spending 10 minutes on average, in line. We toss away minutes all the time. So one of the key things that I recommend people do whenever they come to me about some aspect of their life that they want to improve, I say, okay, look, there's this therapy and there's this modality, and you cannot do all of that. But at the basic level, you got to set aside 20 minutes a day and mark that time. And in that 20 minutes, dedicate yourself to learning something related to personal growth, not learning something about history or geography. That has its place. But no, I'm talking about personal growth, how to be better, and all the things that make you human. 20 minutes a day. I do it before I go to work. I deliberately wake up earlier than I need to, after I've showered, after I've used the gym, meditated and eaten. I have 20 minutes to dedicate to my personal growth. You can do it as you're commuting, by listening to a mindvalley quest or a podcast. You can do it by reading a book. But that 20 minutes a day, when applied to personal growth, is probably the number one thing you can do in life. It is one of the most important things our schools can teach. It is one of the most important things companies can give their people. We actually start our meetings later at Mindvalley. So our employees have their 20 minutes a day. Remember, 20 minutes a day applied to personal growth is a 1% gain every single day. And these gains add up. Adopt a deliberate, clear focus on personal growth.
