Increase Your Luck: One Percent Extra Rule

If you really want to better yourself, improving your life in every single way, getting more done, and becoming a successful, happy person, one way to achieve it is to focus on improving just slightly. Some people call this the one percent rule. Basically, the one percent rule means that you always focus on improving anything on your radar for betterment by 1 percent at a time and no more. 

Let’s say that you want to be able to run 2 miles a day, but right now, you can only do one mile. If you use the 1 percent rule, you will start with your 1-mile run, and each day increase the distance by just 1 percent. One percent is small enough that you’re not likely to really notice the difference since it’s a minimum increment of improvement and increase. 

A one-mile run becomes: 

Day 1: 5280 Feet Equals 1 Mile 

5280 X 1% = 52.8 

5280 + 52.8 = 5332.8

Day 2: 5332.8 Miles 

5332.8 X 1% = 53.328

5332.8 + 53.328 = 5386.128

Day 3: 5386.128 Miles

5386.128 X 1% = 53.86128

5386.128 + 53.86128 = 5439.98928

Day 4: 5439.98928 Miles 

5439.98928 x 1% = 54.3998928

5439.98928 + 54.3998928 = 5494.3891728

Using this method, it will take you between 70 and 72 days to double your distance. As you can see, the distance between days is relatively small, never becoming more than 108 more additional feet added per add. Of course, you can round up to make it simpler to do each day. 

This one percent method can work for any type of skill you want to develop, whether it’s learning to build a database or trying to add more physical activity to your day. Just increase your effort each day by just 1 percent, and don’t take a break until you reach your stated goal. Once you reach your goal, you can enjoy it for a while before making a new goal using the 1 percent rule for improvement.