Welcome to 2024!  We kick off 2024 without the usual structure of SMARTER goals, agile process development, or recommendations on the best calendar, list, or habit-tracking application or product to buy.  Rather, we want to encourage our audience not to get overwhelmed by the big gnarly goals that often dominate the discussion this time of the year.  

We have observed that these big splashes often result in little to no long-term progress.  Gyms worldwide are crowded these first weeks of the year, their coffers filled by folks who want to lose 50 pounds, get into a size 8 by March or run a marathon.  But, by the 20th of January, they are back to normal, the big resolution push of January 1, put away and sadly, for many, forgotten.  

So, while the world encourages and celebrates dramatic transformations and overnight success stories, the concept of "1% better" presents an unexpected, but powerful counterpoint. At its core, the philosophy embraces the notion that consistent, incremental improvements, no matter how small, can lead to significant positive changes over time.  I was first introduced to this concept in the book Mini Habits, Smaller Habits, Bigger Results (2013)by Stephen Guise.  The concepts were documented and validated in the research and methodology reported by B.A. Fogg  in Tiny Habits – The small changes that change everything (2020).  The idea was popularized in James Clear’s bestseller, Atomic Habits (.

The magic of the 1% better everyday practice lies in the compound effect of small, consistent improvements over time.  The compound effect posits that the impact of steady progress is amplified over time. Imagine starting with a simple commitment: making yourself just 1% better each day in your habits, mindset, skills, or personal relationships. The key is the manageable scale of the change—small enough to be sustainable, yet substantial enough to accumulate over time, into remarkable progress.

This concept is beautifully exemplified in the reversed 1-cent-a-day savings scheme. Starting with a humble penny and incrementally increasing the daily savings, the sum grows into a substantial amount over a year.  Another approach, for perhaps faster-saving results, is saving 1% of your salary, or if you already do that, saving an additional 1% of your salary.  Whatever you choose, the 1% money-saving challenge highlights the transformative power of consistency and the compounding nature of small, regular efforts.

              Another 1% better exercise described by Stephen Guise is the 1 push-up per day that he set as a must-do goal to build his fitness and athletic prowess.  Starting with the smallest action he could think of, compounded over time to a well-entrenched fitness habit with results that greatly impacted his quality of life, athleticism, and health.  This is a quantity marker.  Another way of defining a 1% better goal might be by time, 1 minute of running in place or adding 1 minute per week to your exercise regimen.  

So, if you are among the many people who no longer like to set goals because of their lack of past success, the 1% better philosophy is an antidote to the overwhelming nature of colossal goals. Instead of trying to revolutionize your life overnight, focus on making tiny, sustainable improvements. Whether it's adopting a new habit, refining a skill, or nurturing your well-being, these small steps add up.

Moreover, the beauty of the 1% better approach is its adaptability to various aspects of life. It encourages continuous learning, adaptability, and a mindset of growth. It's about acknowledging that progress is progress, no matter how incremental.

This month we will suggest 1% better actions in each of 10 common spheres of interest in life.  These spheres are: finance, nurture, spirit, learning, societal, wellness expression, earn, fitness, play, and romance.  Over the month, we will define each sphere, and give you 3 1% better actions in each area.  These 30  ideas are intended to whet your appetite for the 1% better actions that you can take to move you closer to realizing your dreams.

As you join us on this journey of self-improvement, consider the 1% better concept. Embrace small, incremental changes, performed consistently over time. Learn to relish the process, and watch as these embarrassingly modest steps lead to a transformed, more empowered version of yourself.  But don’t be surprised when you begin to experience results.  Remember the compound effect, consistent, gradual strides yield enduring, exponential results.

This is humbling.

Eight-year old Bodhana Sivanandan, from Harrow, north-west London beat an international chess master (and drew with a Grandmaster) in Croatia recently.

What I find so amazing is not just that she achieved this incredible feat at such a young age.

What takes it to the next level for me is how she responded when asked whether she got nervous.

Her response?

‘I just play the board.’

Brilliant. Why? Because like all great pieces of advice it’s simple, easy to remember and instantly applicable.

It directs our attention to the particular ‘game’ we are playing, and the rules of that particular game.

Whether it’s a report we need to write, a relationship conversation we need to have, the result is the same- it directs us to focus on the essential.

And just to be clear, viewing life as a ‘game’ in this way is not manipulative or reductive.

What it means is that there are implicit rules in just about any situation in life and we can almost always find a way to play that is both enjoyable, and moves us towards what we really want.

If we’re triggered, however, we generally instantly forget the rules and adopt the rules of our trigger world. Anxiety, stress, over-reactions generally follow.

But if we’re doing our best to ‘play the board’, we are doing everything we possibly can to meet the needs of this particular moment.

And that approach gives us the best possible chance of creating the outcomes that we really want.

p.s. John says this piece is filled with too many images and ideas. He may be right, which in one way is a good thing.  The growth of new ways to thrive with dementia are exploding rapidly, sometimes as part of a huge paradigm shift, sometimes as subtle shifts that create a whole new way to view the world of dementia … the way one tiny shift of a kaleidoscope changes the whole picture.

This is what I want comments on in the group today.  Thanks, Pat Sullivan

Chapter One:

Your Once and Future Genius

 90% of the population measures high creativity at the age of five. By the age of seven the figure has dropped to 10 percent. And the percentage of adults with high creativity is only two percent.[1] Elizabeth O’Connor

Every child is a genius. That doesn’t mean that every child can paint like Picasso, compose like Mozart, or score 150 on an I.Q. test. Essentially, the real meaning of genius is to "give birth to the joy" that is within each child. Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D.[2]

You, I and Albert Einstein were all born loaded with many raw materials of genius and an unconscious operating system that has evolved to make the most of our innate gifts. 

Before we could walk, talk or wipe our bottoms, these elements of genius poured out of our DNA so we could handle the joys and challenges of our strange new world. 

In the beginning, our innate genius was unpolluted by doubt, fear or others’ agendas, so we naturally followed our instincts and drives to break free of the crib, eventually to crawl and walk and run. Whether or not we were encouraged by the adults around us, we taught ourselves how to babble, eventually to speak fluently the language of those around us. By the time we were 3-5, we were whizzes at thinking up many possibilities.

As we grew, more elements of genius blossomed. By four or so, many of us began having intuitive hits. By five, we were likely to be budding experts in what we like or don’t like. We exuberantly stated our choices, and we were eager to learn all we could about ourselves and the world around us little could stop us.  

When we entered school, we were hungry to learn from ourselves, each other, teachers, the natural world, and books. We longed to become purposeful, creative adults who know and do what matters most to us, whether we’re solving problems, being creative, serving others, or building cherished dreams.

In short, we started school ready and eager to learn reading, writing, arithmetic and other grown-up skills that we were rightly told were both necessary and wonderful bits of education. We were also ready to develop the natural genius that brought us so far in so few years, even though we were rarely taught this was possible or desirable. It would have helped us do this if all our lives we had been helped to see the connections of the natural genius that is born in all of us and the achievements of the few rare people who are deemed to be genius by others.

How Natural Genius Became Grown-up Genius in Albert Einstein and Other Recognized Geniuses

Einstein famously claimed that he had “no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”[3]  Actually, Einstein embodied not just curiosity but also many more natural elements of genius. Throughout his life, he developed his imagination, wonder, awe, playfulness, patience, persistence, an awareness of what fascinated him, and natural spirituality. Many of these gifts are highlighted in Einstein’s advice to a young man: 

“Never lose holy curiosity … The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day.”[4]

J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, is another example of childhood gifts kept alive and developed throughout life. Beloved for her imaginative power, wit, wisdom, social change-making, and philanthropy, she, like Einstein, wasn’t born ready to excel in her craft. But she cherished and developed her imagination, as well as a healthy 5-year-olds’s capacity to know what she likes and doesn’t like. 

Most of us lose that clarity as we grow up and learn to adapt to others’ notions and agendas. Rowling paid keen attention to what’s fascinating to her, then developed those fascinations with study, research, writing discipline, and playfulness. In the Harry Potter stories, you can see evidences of her many passions including nature, magic, writing, Latin and other classical learning, adolescent and adult psychology, friendships, love and how to deal with bullies.

Rowling also developed her innate ability to receive guidance from the people and world around her. Even as she learned how to work through painful problems, she honed her ability to receive insights anytime, anywhere, from any source. When the idea for the Harry Potter series became conscious during a long-delayed train ride, she painstakingly wove into it the wisdom of her life, including that gained through facing pain and failure.

Ted Williams was such a powerful hitter that most people assumed he was endowed with special innate talents and super-human eyesight. “Bull!” said Williams, whose eyesight tested at high normal. “The reason I saw things was that I was so intense…It was [super] discipline, not super eyesight.”[5]

Fully seeing something or someone requires attentiveness, curiosity, practice, focus and being present to what’s in front of us. Obviously, Williams developed each of those innate attributes and many others to the nth degree so he could see those balls coming at him much better than others could. 

While you may never reach the level of achievements of Einstein, Rowling, Williams or any person who achieves spectacular success in any field, your innate gifts are powerful and always worth developing. When that happens, you significantly increase your abilities to know and do what matters most to you, including solving problems, knowing and building dreams, thriving in work and life, and leaving a rich legacy in thought and deed, if not in material possessions.

The Amazing Potential of Your Natural Genius

Each element of natural genius offers a unique way of seeing and being in the world, as is discussed in Chapter [ ]. 

It’s as if each element transmits 24/7 its special brand of information and insights. For example, your emotions constantly transmit notice of feelings such as joy, sorrow, anger or fear. Exploring these emotions can warn you of real or perceived danger, inform you how you like or don’t like someone or something, or help you experience more joy.

Being alert to body signals can help you see clearly exactly how you are currently suffering and perhaps remember what to do or who to call to heal.

Curiosity can help you explore your outer world, while self-curiosity can help you learn more about yourself -- warts, gifts, courage, fears and all.

Over time, each of these elements can grow in power and effectiveness. For instance, curiosity can become a solid foundation for a career (such as detective work or science); a life-time catalyst to solving any type of problem; and an antidote to blindly taking others’ assumptions as your truth. The more curiosity works with emotions, memory, awe, courage and other gifts, the more potent and trustworthy each becomes.

But fully developed natural genius is just one aspect of your potential. With time, experience and mature brains, we can also develop four other critical forms of genius:

• The genius of your uniqueness. Your choices, talents, passions, perspectives and experience impact everything you see and do. This is akin to reality that if 200 artists sat in the same exact place at the same exact time, each would paint a very different picture. Chapter [ ] will show you how to discover and develop the genius of your uniqueness.
• Many forms of grown-up wisdom. Discernment, spiritual or emotional intelligence, integrity, logic and other mature elements of genius provide trustworthy ways to utilize the information fathered by your natural genius.  Chapter [ ] will help you develop these forms of brilliance. 
• Guiding genius. Many religious and creative traditions offer teachings on how to receive and work with guidance ranging from the proverbial kiss of a muse, to an intuitive or “eureka!” idea, to ongoing wise guidance for every aspect of life and work. Chapter [ ] will introduce you to a variety of ways to do this. 
• Applied genius.  The power of genius to solve problems and build visions is well known. So are many useful tools for entertaining ideas, then shaping them into useful forms. The tips and resources in Chapter [ ] will survey some great resources, with a focus on using your genius to know and do what truly matters most to you, always with respect for how your actions impact others. 

[1] O’Connor, Elizabeth, Eighth Day of Creation (Waco, Texas: Word Books. 1971), p. 17. Other studies which we will discuss later rate the high level of imagination in children aged 3-5 as up to 98%.
[2] http://www.institute4learni...
[3] From a letter to Carl Seelig (his biographer) (11 March 1952), Einstein Archives 39-013
[4] This and other verified Einstein quotes were reported in the story, “Einstein’s Big Idea, citing original sources, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nov...
[5] Quoted in David Shenk, The Genius in All of Us: New Insights into Genetics, Talent, and IQ, New York: Anchor Books (2010) p. 6