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To me, the spirit of this 1% better every day is to have at least tried to be better. That alone counts as or at least towards the 1%. It’s not something you li

To me, the spirit of this 1% better every day is to have at least tried to be better. That alone counts as or at least towards the 1%. It’s not something you literally measure, but just aiming for. 1% of a day could be as much as changing a thought pattern. It could be not drinking that Coke Zero today - note to self. It could be not letting the full trash can in the bathroom spill over. It’s more about the intention than the measure.

pdimitar 5y ago
Agreed, but it also has to be noted that this intention, if you remind yourself of it constantly, can fill you with dread add unwillingness which can grow to be a huge self-imposed psychic block. I want to be better but I've dropped the "every day" trope. That's a meaningless and toxic hustling that only works when you are in your 20s. Progress is not linear. We are not machines. Even a machine can't make a linear progress if it doesn't get a steady (or an ever-increasing) energy input or if it can't internalize its previous experience and transform it to a more efficient algorithm. To me, like you, the most important is the never-ending intention. I'm a pre-diabetic and I have very bad days during which the only thing I could do is eat, poop, drink water, nap, repeat 3-4 times, and the day is gone. But I don't lose sight of my goals and when my energy is back I am catching up on a few important items from my mental backlog, almost every time. That's the important thing IMO: have a vision, never forget your vision, act on it when you're able. Don't guilt-trip yourself, ever.
- reidjs 5y ago
  Adding to this, it’s hard to know if you are actually getting “better” because it’s so hard to measure. My approach is to try to get better between reflection periods while also scheduling days for self reflection on that goal.
  - pdimitar 5y ago
    I am 50/50 on if a conscious self-reflection will give you the birds-eye view. For some it might work, for me it doesn't. Meditation definitely achieves that for me however.
    - lanstin 5y ago
      And paying a bit more attention to each moment is less harsh than than trying to increase numeric metrics of “good” or “evil” each day. Paying attention is simple enough you can tell if you are having trouble with it or not without numbers. Although people are good at fooling themselves, they are also able to see thru a brick wall given enough time and stillness.
sneak 5y ago
What's wrong with Coke Zero?
dfxm12 5y ago
It's really both intention and action. Intending to take out the trash is meaningless if it's already spilled over. We need more than beliefs to make progress. I believe OP is talking about both going at your own realistic pace (whatever that means for you), and also actually going.

pdimitar 5y ago

Agreed, but it also has to be noted that this intention, if you remind yourself of it constantly, can fill you with dread add unwillingness which can grow to be a huge self-imposed psychic block. I want to be better but I've dropped the "every day" trope. That's a meaningless and toxic hustling that only works when you are in your 20s. Progress is not linear. We are not machines. Even a machine can't make a linear progress if it doesn't get a steady (or an ever-increasing) energy input or if it can't internalize its previous experience and transform it to a more efficient algorithm. To me, like you, the most important is the never-ending intention. I'm a pre-diabetic and I have very bad days during which the only thing I could do is eat, poop, drink water, nap, repeat 3-4 times, and the day is gone. But I don't lose sight of my goals and when my energy is back I am catching up on a few important items from my mental backlog, almost every time. That's the important thing IMO: have a vision, never forget your vision, act on it when you're able. Don't guilt-trip yourself, ever.

reidjs 5y ago
Adding to this, it’s hard to know if you are actually getting “better” because it’s so hard to measure. My approach is to try to get better between reflection periods while also scheduling days for self reflection on that goal.
- pdimitar 5y ago
  I am 50/50 on if a conscious self-reflection will give you the birds-eye view. For some it might work, for me it doesn't. Meditation definitely achieves that for me however.
  - lanstin 5y ago
    And paying a bit more attention to each moment is less harsh than than trying to increase numeric metrics of “good” or “evil” each day. Paying attention is simple enough you can tell if you are having trouble with it or not without numbers. Although people are good at fooling themselves, they are also able to see thru a brick wall given enough time and stillness.

sneak 5y ago

What's wrong with Coke Zero?

dfxm12 5y ago

It's really both intention and action. Intending to take out the trash is meaningless if it's already spilled over. We need more than beliefs to make progress. I believe OP is talking about both going at your own realistic pace (whatever that means for you), and also actually going.