Hey Spoonfed! Wanted to express my sincere thanks for your awesome content. It's a small gesture, but I hope it brings some joy your way. Keep shining bright!
Not at all! It’s not small in my book! Getting a super thanks always brightens my day and keeps me charged. Means a lot to me seriously. Thank you friend :)
The 1% better everyday concept isn’t meant to be taken literally as he points out, growth isn’t linear. He’s just saying small incremental improvements over time add up to big results.
True. But growth often doesn’t compound like he says either (i.e very rarely do you get to be 38x better at the end of the year) unless you conscientiously and systematically choose the things that give you the biggest return time and time again. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support his overall message. Just trying to add a bit more nuance to the conversation he started to ensure you get as close to “38x” as humanly possible.
@@spoonfedstudy thing is, he understands getting 37% everyday isn’t realistic, in one of his graphs (the plateau of latent potential), he shows how progress is non-linear, but growth does compound, just not in the way people typically think. But I understand what your doing, by adding that nuance as you say, it can help people improve better, as people mis-view the message. I just think it’s wrong to say atomic habits doesn’t make any sense, when it really does.
@@runicthor4105 It's an attention-grabbing title. He actually agrees with James Clear, but you don't build an audience by saying you agree with people.
I saw it as more of a way of motivating people to improve 1% daily because it seems very easily achievable when they're first forming a new habit. Which makes the habit more accessible in our minds and we feel satisfied completing that goal each day. (Which he talks about later in the 4 laws of behaviour change). He goes into how bad habits are easy to form because they're easily achievable and give you satisfying results immediately. Which is why I think the 1% rule can be useful for people to see some sort of 'Atomic' result in the long tedious road to seeing substantial growth.
That's the point I got. You feel progress is accumulating even if it's immeasurable. That defeats many people and Clear's advice is encouraging to me. It's not about the destination (like final weight lost) but the journey and who you're becoming, ever improving.
Habits are great for keeping you on track and preventing you from falling off. But I believe big changes come from the opposite and that is breaking habits and trying something new. Then you establish new habits to keep you on the new track.
Well said! Sometimes the biggest bang for your buck is to get rid of these so-called “dark habits.” Arguably, this may be harder but the returns likely enormous.
This was so helpful! Thanks for breaking this info down into digestible pieces, all with a sense of humor. You even made the ad funny with the nachos 😂
To be honest, it is Lean Systems thinking that he was really reaching for. That's where the 1% better motto comes from, and it isn't set in stone. As long as there is some sort of improvement in a system and it can be maintained, that's all that really matters. The Kaizen method to install the system is where the exponential growth comes from, but Kaizen projects often only last 5-7 days because they aren't meant to change the world. They're meant to simplify, install guardrails, put things in their place, so on and so on. While I agree James Clear didn't quite get the point, you are also not really doing much with it either. I think there is a little too much "literal interpretation" here where it really just needs to be "What did this stem from?" And this comes from someone who works as a project manager, works with Lean Systems and studies it often. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. Have a good day now.
Very cool! Appreciate the insight and feedback. Always great to hear these perspectives and get closer to where ideas may have originated from and of course, learn about their intended uses. In the end, as long as we try our best to adapt ideas to suit our needs and improve what we can, then that’s a definite win in my book. Thanks for commenting!
I'm not so sure if the "1% rule" really is worth time debunking. Personally I haven't met anyone who'd taken it literally or doesn't understand intuitively the things you've mentioned. The main principle is the trajectory and making sure your organize your life and habits in a way that the arrow points in the right direction. 1% everyday might not be realistically accurate, attainable or even desirable but it's a very simple mental model you can always refer back to and remind yourself whenever you need to. And of course: _“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”_
The book argues that 1% better is an identity based habit, not an outcome based habit. I notice you’re arguing about the “truth” of what 1% improvements looks like with outcome based habits, the first graph is still correct in rule 4. If you’re grabbing attention with that title good job, as long as you understood his argument.
it means being better than yesterday it is not really a one percent better literally, It is about being consistent just like the concept of progressive overload in the gym.
Wow! What an insightful video!! 🤩 I thought it would be a clickbait title, but it had more gold and solid real dependable reliable advice I’ve seen in a video in a very long time!
Thank you Nathan! Always trying to make sure each video I put out there gives you some real educational value + some entertainment. Happy to have you here ❤️
For a multibillion dollar hedge fund like Berkshire Hathaway, a 20% a year return is an uncommonly high rate, but for smaller funds who manage a smaller amount of Capital, like a couple tens of millions, it is much more common to see them returning 25% and 30% per year on their equity.
😂 I had to watch this several times because I kept getting distracted by the shenanigans in the graphics. This video is business in the listening, party in the video. 😂🎉
I think I read the first 20 pages of the book and I kinda gotta the drift of it. Unless missed some major points. Here is a throwaway summary. - Start with tiny changes - Stay consistent with those tiny changes( compounding effect) - Tie changes and habits to your highest identity. Simple and when applied I think it can be powerful.
You should continue reading... He starts with simple ideas and adds to them later on. Such as environmental influence and a 4 law system on how to form habits as well as the inverse of those 4 laws that allow you to break bad habits etc. He does talk about how genetics plays a role a little bit as well. I like how he uses real life stories of successful people who employed these ideas into their own lives. Though, survivorship bias exists too and not everything is going to work for everyone.
I read that book and genuinely thought I missed something, because I didn't think it actually described an applicable method for improvement, more just a serious of anecdotes. Thank you for this!
I appreciate your criticism. I've been thinking in a similar way (after having read ½ of the book). It seems the author uses a math chart as a simile. The good thing I've noticed, so far, is that the book highlights the importance of observation before attempting to change anything.
I truly agree with what you said. However, I believe we can take this productivity framework a level higher if we add the laws from "Eat that frog". What I mean is don't just put your efforts. Keep checking if the return are the highest or does another activity improves the skill better. In your example you compared the day 1, day 100 and day 1000 of learning new diseases but if we use the laws from the book. We won't need to reach the 1000 day mark. We check our results and see that the improvement has started to decrease beyond 1% after the 100 day mark. So, we can look out for a new activity with greater returns. Remember always do the task with the most returns first. "Resist the temptations to clear up small things first" - Brian Tracy
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Yah often it’s hard to dissect habits into the micro-level 1% improvements that are still in the category of systemic change. Realistically you either get a huge return on a habit you’ve never done before or you fall into a linear incremental type growth that rapidly diminishes in return over time because it’s hard to sustain. At that point in time, it’s time to move on to a new “Fruit” because the effort is just not worth the squeeze.
That’s so awesome to hear! That’s a great question and I haven’t kept as good of a list as I should so I may need to sit down and think about that a bit. What comes to mind right now is Man’s Search for Meaning, 7 Habits, and Power of Now to name a few. Most books have good concepts here and there interspersed with the so-so filler. Usually I take what happens to resonate, mixing and matching it with what I’ve gained elsewhere to create the tool I need for the moment at hand.
Dude yes! I'm so tired of the self help grift that makes up most of that market. I've been reading self help books for 15 years, just about every major title. Very few of them actually helped me change something for the better in my life.
Yeeesss. Why do we insist on shoving a non-linear problem into a linear solution? But I reckon if all you have is an incremental “successive approximation” hammer, then every problem looks like an Atomic Habit nail. That said, I do love the atomic habit idea for installing a new and *simple* habit that gets attached to an existing one. Thinking that will somehow scale to complex behaviors? Nope.
Well said! Yah there’s a lot more nuance to all this than can be said in a simple nice tagline for a book, but I guess if he did that, he would’ve sold less books 😅
We should be at the state of effortless effort in action. When we conduct a specific activity such as dancing, singing, playing sports and musical instruments, meditating, practicing martial arts, drawing and painting artworks, cooking, writing, even talking with someone, and washing dishes, there could be a moment when we can immerse ourselves to our action alone, where without our conscious efforts, we can effortlessly forget ourselves
12:11 You said that the world is becoming more and more competitive IMMEDIATELY after noting the instant gratification era we live in that supposedly does the opposite. Can you explain this dichotomy?
The video starts with "Mmh akchtually, 1% better per day is mathematically impossible" and spends minutes on this statement. How am I supposed to take this video seriously? It's an illustration, an image to tell you that you start slow, very slow, and you'll be disappointed to not perceive progress, but that progress will get significantly better later. That's it, no need to be over-analytical about it. I started to apply some tips from the book and it works. I also recommend this book a lot because it helps to understand more about how our brains work with craving and addictions. And I like statements such as motivation being overrated, we shouldn't count solely on it and set up a solid system instead. If I could give one criticism, it's the book doesn't spend enough time about how to break bad habits. In an interview, James Clear said you should replace it with a good habit instead. And that is a great tip the book either forgot to mention, or doesn't underline enough.
The math, which is not explained in the book, is 1.01 times itself 365 times, or 1.01 to the power of 365 = 37.783... But this assumes improvement is exponential. I don't think you can get exponential improvements from things like weightlifting... Still, you can make a lot of progress if you do something every day. Habits are the right idea though. Humans are forgetful creatures, and things have to be internalized subsconsciously to be learned. But there's no limit to that. Look at our use of language. I don't think Doctor Smith from Lost in Space is a good example to follow, lol. Watch the oxalates from vegetables.
My problem is not the1% better. Sure, that can happen. My problem is halfway through, you're hit by the wrecking ball sportingly called life. Suddenly you're back to square one.
The other issue is his notion that the best way to cure procrastination is through incorporating something as part of your identity. Like, if you want to read more, just start thinking of yourself as a reader. That's not how anything works. People who read do so because there are books they want to read, and they enjoy the process. They just do it. They don't wake up going, "I am a person who reads, therefore I must pick up this book and finish it." They are just excited to get back to the story. If you want to quit smoking, you don't think, "I am a person who doesn't smoke." People who don't smoke don't want to smoke. It isn't even something that occurs to them. This is the whole _don't think about pink elephants_ thing. They way you quit an addiction is to find something else that you prefer doing instead.
That’s not the entire conception of identity-based habits. Your habits are like evidence your brain collects. He’s not saying to be like “I’m a reader, so I’m gonna read this book”, he’s saying have the identity you want, align with your habits. This means you have to get yourself to read (the other methods you can use in the book allow you to do this), and over time once you put in the reps, the habit will be established, and your identity will have shifted, and as we know from the voting study he mentioned in that same chapter (I found the study as I did many others like the implementation intention one), your beliefs about yourself (identity) influence your actions (habits), effectively creating a self-assuring identity-habit loop.
@@runicthor4105 No, James is not just saying that once you change your habits your identity will have shifted. That's just stating the obvious. He pretty explicitly tells the reader to do what I'm describing, not just once but throughout the book. He advises you to change your identity in order to change your habits. He wasn't just commenting on the cycle you've described. He merely used that as evidence to back up his prescription. In fact, you're going in reverse.
@@TheDraftHorse2025 ah yea I’ve went back since then and have seen what you are talking about. But he is kinda of right, he’s cited evidence about people being more likely to vote when they identify themselves as voters in a study (I found it). What he’s getting at with the identity-based habits, is that when you get your identity involved, the related behaviour will become more likely to happen. Identity influences habits, habits influences identity is pretty much the paradigm right there, and he is correct about that. And the other importance in the identity-based habits is that it’s superior to goal based habits, as goal based habits tend to be temporary changes, as pointed out in the systems over goals paradigms. And when it comes to systems, by defining your identity, it can act as a sort of outline for your systems.
Hey, I just finished reading that chapter and had the exact same thought! What the heck does 1% improvement look like for most tasks anyway? Ok, let's keep it simple and track miles walked - I actually do want to walk more. (If I walk 1 mile on day one, that's an infinite improvement from day zero, like you said, but never mind.) On day 2, I walk 1.01 miles. By day 233, I'm walking 10.06 miles a day; day 303, I'm walking 20.19 miles a day; day 362, I'm walking 36.31 miles a day. Needless to say, that's a ridiculous amount of walking that I'm never going to keep up. And I fail to achieve 37X improvement. Drat.
And also by day 233, you've reduced your cholesterol, regulated your blood sugar, lost body fat, toned your muscles, improved your sleep, increased your energy, gained mental clarity and boosted your sexual stamina 😊
I saw it as more of a way of motivating people to improve 1% daily because it seems very easily achievable when they're first forming a new habit. Which makes the habit more accessible in our minds and we feel satisfied completing that goal each day. (Which he talks about later in the 4 laws of behaviour change). He goes into how bad habits are easy to form because they're easily achievable and give you satisfying results immediately. Which is why I think the 1% rule can be useful for people to see some sort of 'Atomic' result in the long tedious road to seeing substantial growth.
Your example with 1 disease per day kinda ignores that further down the line, he might also learn more than 1 per day (as he's also better at learning), he might also be more knowledgeable (more than the sum of it's parts) as he'll be able to pinpoint more unique diagnoses, be more sure that the disease isn't documented yet, etc. So yeah... by simply learning "1 hour per day" (as opposed to 1 disease per day), he might become a walking disease expert. The cream of the crop...
To speak about 1% I think you should apply concept from engineering, which essentially says: there is a region on the curve for which the pattern holds. For example. If you are overweight by 20kg then you could device a plan where everyday you lose 0.2kg. You would be improving by 1% then (but not in a compound way, in a way that looks at initial and end condition). But once you reach the ideal BMI, the improvement in the weight department stops. With knowledge I think you can make both 1% improvement (domain specific knowledge) and compound effect (e.g. knowing three languages gives you pretty good intuition on words in other related languages). But yeah. For fitness there is a level that is: move your body and eat your greens and you will be at this level no effort. There is also level: eat insane amount of protein and be a gym rat to maintain this level of physique. For knowledge there is stage that you can truly boost your knowledge by 1%, but there is level where you just run to not become this professor- type guy who's knowledge base is outdated and quotes debunked research from 40 years ago. Then there is being old and doing stuff just to deteriorate slower. Such is life. 1% and compound effect holds in Some areas and for a period of time. But then it doesn't .
Totally agree. A lot of it does come down to the specific situation and what you want to achieve as you’ve astutely pointed out with the various examples. The degree whereby your inputs affect your outputs can depend on so many things
38% increase in a thing is not the same as 38 times better. The book only claims that you will be 38% better not 3800% I want to believe you made a genuine error but somehow i don’t think that’s the case. You’re better than this.
Look at it again Moses. The tagline is actually 37.78 better, not 37.78%. Mathematically 1% compounded 365 times gives you 37.78, which again is 37.78x better. (1.01^365) That’s why practically, 1% better everyday for 365 days is inherently not easily attainable as a pure concept in and of itself.
If you watch the whole video, you will find that this video does not oppose Atomic Habits, it compliments it. Interesting ideas behind 1% increase. Most people (including myself) don't really understand what it actuality implies.
I really love your channel. But after watching the first 4 min, I have a serious doubt: Have you read the book? I did. The author does not mention that just 1% everyday is enough. He says somedays you’ll do more than in others. The book is about becoming your change. Read the book, please.
Thanks for your feedback! I hear you. Overall, the book does provide a lot of insights that are helpful. The idea behind this video was just to go more in depth on what consistently “getting better” at something each day may look like and lend some tips on other strategies that may help in that journey.
Ok. You’re picking just the main idea for this video. Got it. As I said to a former manager, who loves the book we’re discussing: It’s like cleaning my desk. 0% of germs killed everyday is nothing. Zero is not even a number to me. I rather wait a week or two and get 500000 results! THAT is success.🤣” I became more productive after reading the 12 week year. The only book that worked for me.
Ok. You’re picking just the main idea for this video. Got it. As I said to a former manager, who loves the book we’re discussing: It’s like cleaning my desk. 0% of germs killed everyday is nothing. Zero is not even a number to me. I rather wait a week or two and get 500000 results! THAT is success.🤣” I became more productive after reading the 12 week year. The only book that worked for me.
Since Elon Musk is planing his days in 5 minutes blocks and very successfull, I think planing out is in fact corelated with success, so I like the advertised app❤ Nice video too👍
shit you not, this is also my thought when I heard the everyday improve 1% rule. I was like, do you even know maths. Do you even know the different between addition and multiplication. It is like, in day 1 I make $1, everyday I made 1% more, it is not hard right? Then in a few years I will be the richest person in the world. But then, I realize, yea. James has to expand his few ideas into a book, and he has to make these ideas catchy. So I just gave up and don't even bother to read. For me that book might have some merits but clearly the author does not know what he is talking about, or he intentionally writing false information and idea. Thank you for making this video though. I think all we need is not some idealistic methodologies to help, but something that is actually actionable.
9:39 This guy is a negative nelly missing the forest through the trees. He's nerding out on being too literal on the 1% idea (for half the video) instead of seeing the point. Not every bit of advice works for all but some comments I see here seem hypercritical. Maybe they want a quick fix which is not realistic. You have to do the work. I taught myself these principles long ago when I loved my life but forgot after many taumatic events. This guy seems more about tooting his own bell and being an advertisement. I guess some ppl have nothing else to post about.
Hey Spoonfed! Wanted to express my sincere thanks for your awesome content. It's a small gesture, but I hope it brings some joy your way. Keep shining bright!
Not at all! It’s not small in my book! Getting a super thanks always brightens my day and keeps me charged. Means a lot to me seriously. Thank you friend :)
The 1% better everyday concept isn’t meant to be taken literally as he points out, growth isn’t linear. He’s just saying small incremental improvements over time add up to big results.
True. But growth often doesn’t compound like he says either (i.e very rarely do you get to be 38x better at the end of the year) unless you conscientiously and systematically choose the things that give you the biggest return time and time again. Don’t get me wrong, I fully support his overall message. Just trying to add a bit more nuance to the conversation he started to ensure you get as close to “38x” as humanly possible.
@@spoonfedstudy thing is, he understands getting 37% everyday isn’t realistic, in one of his graphs (the plateau of latent potential), he shows how progress is non-linear, but growth does compound, just not in the way people typically think. But I understand what your doing, by adding that nuance as you say, it can help people improve better, as people mis-view the message. I just think it’s wrong to say atomic habits doesn’t make any sense, when it really does.
I like this because I didn’t read the book 😁
@@hornedgod2873 read it, it’s a good book
@@runicthor4105 It's an attention-grabbing title. He actually agrees with James Clear, but you don't build an audience by saying you agree with people.
I saw it as more of a way of motivating people to improve 1% daily because it seems very easily achievable when they're first forming a new habit. Which makes the habit more accessible in our minds and we feel satisfied completing that goal each day. (Which he talks about later in the 4 laws of behaviour change).
He goes into how bad habits are easy to form because they're easily achievable and give you satisfying results immediately.
Which is why I think the 1% rule can be useful for people to see some sort of 'Atomic' result in the long tedious road to seeing substantial growth.
That's the point I got. You feel progress is accumulating even if it's immeasurable. That defeats many people and Clear's advice is encouraging to me. It's not about the destination (like final weight lost) but the journey and who you're becoming, ever improving.
Habits are great for keeping you on track and preventing you from falling off.
But I believe big changes come from the opposite and that is breaking habits and trying something new.
Then you establish new habits to keep you on the new track.
Well said! Sometimes the biggest bang for your buck is to get rid of these so-called “dark habits.” Arguably, this may be harder but the returns likely enormous.
Ya well that aligns with Clear's methodology
Thanks! A thoughtful, entertaining, and well-balanced perspective on this popular, and often overhyped, yet still a really good, book.
Friend!! Who are you?? Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Seriously, I’m blown away by all your super thanks
@@spoonfedstudy I'm just a silent awareness, consuming and appreciating good content. Enjoy your work. Keep adding more good content for us all.
Will do! Hope to keep on earning your presence 👍
This was so helpful! Thanks for breaking this info down into digestible pieces, all with a sense of humor. You even made the ad funny with the nachos 😂
Haha heesun!!! You noticed!!! lol that entire ad is filled with little nuggets and treasures most people will never notice 😅
To be honest, it is Lean Systems thinking that he was really reaching for. That's where the 1% better motto comes from, and it isn't set in stone. As long as there is some sort of improvement in a system and it can be maintained, that's all that really matters. The Kaizen method to install the system is where the exponential growth comes from, but Kaizen projects often only last 5-7 days because they aren't meant to change the world. They're meant to simplify, install guardrails, put things in their place, so on and so on.
While I agree James Clear didn't quite get the point, you are also not really doing much with it either. I think there is a little too much "literal interpretation" here where it really just needs to be "What did this stem from?"
And this comes from someone who works as a project manager, works with Lean Systems and studies it often.
Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. Have a good day now.
Very cool! Appreciate the insight and feedback. Always great to hear these perspectives and get closer to where ideas may have originated from and of course, learn about their intended uses. In the end, as long as we try our best to adapt ideas to suit our needs and improve what we can, then that’s a definite win in my book. Thanks for commenting!
I'm not so sure if the "1% rule" really is worth time debunking. Personally I haven't met anyone who'd taken it literally or doesn't understand intuitively the things you've mentioned. The main principle is the trajectory and making sure your organize your life and habits in a way that the arrow points in the right direction. 1% everyday might not be realistically accurate, attainable or even desirable but it's a very simple mental model you can always refer back to and remind yourself whenever you need to.
And of course: _“When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”_
I feel that a lot of the commenters did not watch the entire video
The book argues that 1% better is an identity based habit, not an outcome based habit. I notice you’re arguing about the “truth” of what 1% improvements looks like with outcome based habits, the first graph is still correct in rule 4. If you’re grabbing attention with that title good job, as long as you understood his argument.
it means being better than yesterday it is not really a one percent better literally, It is about being consistent just like the concept of progressive overload in the gym.
“None of it matters if you don’t show up to play” I love it
Wow! What an insightful video!! 🤩 I thought it would be a clickbait title, but it had more gold and solid real dependable reliable advice I’ve seen in a video in a very long time!
Thank you Nathan! Always trying to make sure each video I put out there gives you some real educational value + some entertainment. Happy to have you here ❤️
Thank you! Someone said it.
Finally someone said it. I just subscribed. Can't wait to check out your other videos.
Welcome to the channel! Hope you stick around, get something out of it and maybe even have a few laughs here and there!
For a multibillion dollar hedge fund like Berkshire Hathaway, a 20% a year return is an uncommonly high rate, but for smaller funds who manage a smaller amount of Capital, like a couple tens of millions, it is much more common to see them returning 25% and 30% per year on their equity.
😂 I had to watch this several times because I kept getting distracted by the shenanigans in the graphics. This video is business in the listening, party in the video. 😂🎉
Haha!! Yah half the fun is coming up with the little drawings to go with the video 😅
Sure thing! Your thoughts in the video totally resonated with me. It was super cool to hear your perspective!
Big thanks for the awesome content.
I think I read the first 20 pages of the book and I kinda gotta the drift of it. Unless missed some major points. Here is a throwaway summary.
- Start with tiny changes
- Stay consistent with those tiny changes( compounding effect)
- Tie changes and habits to your highest identity.
Simple and when applied I think it can be powerful.
You forgot the important point that environment influences habit pages 80 or so.
You should continue reading... He starts with simple ideas and adds to them later on.
Such as environmental influence and a 4 law system on how to form habits as well as the inverse of those 4 laws that allow you to break bad habits etc.
He does talk about how genetics plays a role a little bit as well. I like how he uses real life stories of successful people who employed these ideas into their own lives.
Though, survivorship bias exists too and not everything is going to work for everyone.
I read that book and genuinely thought I missed something, because I didn't think it actually described an applicable method for improvement, more just a serious of anecdotes. Thank you for this!
I know right? Glad I wasn’t the only one!
@@spoonfedstudy so glad i wasn't either lol
I appreciate your criticism. I've been thinking in a similar way (after having read ½ of the book). It seems the author uses a math chart as a simile.
The good thing I've noticed, so far, is that the book highlights the importance of observation before attempting to change anything.
That’s true! Observing and seeing what will be most useful to you or getting you the biggest returns is key
I truly agree with what you said. However, I believe we can take this productivity framework a level higher if we add the laws from "Eat that frog". What I mean is don't just put your efforts. Keep checking if the return are the highest or does another activity improves the skill better. In your example you compared the day 1, day 100 and day 1000 of learning new diseases but if we use the laws from the book. We won't need to reach the 1000 day mark. We check our results and see that the improvement has started to decrease beyond 1% after the 100 day mark. So, we can look out for a new activity with greater returns. Remember always do the task with the most returns first.
"Resist the temptations to clear up small things first"
- Brian Tracy
100%! Checking in and doing regular reflections are incredibly important. Thank you for that reminder!
Great video! What does 1% better a day even look like? I like your idea of tackling the low-hanging fruit first.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it! Yah often it’s hard to dissect habits into the micro-level 1% improvements that are still in the category of systemic change. Realistically you either get a huge return on a habit you’ve never done before or you fall into a linear incremental type growth that rapidly diminishes in return over time because it’s hard to sustain. At that point in time, it’s time to move on to a new “Fruit” because the effort is just not worth the squeeze.
9:44 10,000 experiments is better than 10,000 hours
LOL "my airbending is actually not too shabby." in promotion "what did I do well?"
Tiny habits is much better than Atomic habits.
Which non-fiction books do you recommend ? Btw your content is really very evidence based and has helped my personal growth a lot❤️
That’s so awesome to hear! That’s a great question and I haven’t kept as good of a list as I should so I may need to sit down and think about that a bit. What comes to mind right now is Man’s Search for Meaning, 7 Habits, and Power of Now to name a few. Most books have good concepts here and there interspersed with the so-so filler. Usually I take what happens to resonate, mixing and matching it with what I’ve gained elsewhere to create the tool I need for the moment at hand.
5:39 systemic upgrades for exponential level up growth
11:26 growth chart
Dude yes! I'm so tired of the self help grift that makes up most of that market. I've been reading self help books for 15 years, just about every major title. Very few of them actually helped me change something for the better in my life.
Nice job keeping consistent with it though!
Exactly, just like so many other "Self-Help" books.
Good to see you again!
Yeeesss. Why do we insist on shoving a non-linear problem into a linear solution? But I reckon if all you have is an incremental “successive approximation” hammer, then every problem looks like an Atomic Habit nail.
That said, I do love the atomic habit idea for installing a new and *simple* habit that gets attached to an existing one. Thinking that will somehow scale to complex behaviors? Nope.
Well said! Yah there’s a lot more nuance to all this than can be said in a simple nice tagline for a book, but I guess if he did that, he would’ve sold less books 😅
We should be at the state of effortless effort in action. When we conduct a specific activity such as dancing, singing, playing sports and musical instruments, meditating, practicing martial arts, drawing and painting artworks, cooking, writing, even talking with someone, and washing dishes, there could be a moment when we can immerse ourselves to our action alone, where without our conscious efforts, we can effortlessly forget ourselves
Love it when I fall into a flow state like that. I’d say making videos on UA-cam often falls into that category ;)
This is the concept of flow that ur talking about .... Effortless effort ....
Think you're missing the point and taking it far too literal for the concept being presented
Sorry for stupid question, but how to copy your template in xtiles?
The second link in the description is my template! Click on it and you get immediate access when you make an account
@@spoonfedstudy Thanks for prompt response. Somehow I can not copy it as a template
I’ll see what the issue is and get back to you. Send me an email at spoonfedstudy@gmail.com and I’ll see to it you get what you want
Changed some settings from my end and it should allow duplication of the template now. Hope that solves it!
12:11 You said that the world is becoming more and more competitive IMMEDIATELY after noting the instant gratification era we live in that supposedly does the opposite. Can you explain this dichotomy?
From what I read so far, it works, it’s transformed my life. For reference, I’m bordering 13
The video starts with "Mmh akchtually, 1% better per day is mathematically impossible" and spends minutes on this statement. How am I supposed to take this video seriously?
It's an illustration, an image to tell you that you start slow, very slow, and you'll be disappointed to not perceive progress, but that progress will get significantly better later.
That's it, no need to be over-analytical about it.
I started to apply some tips from the book and it works. I also recommend this book a lot because it helps to understand more about how our brains work with craving and addictions. And I like statements such as motivation being overrated, we shouldn't count solely on it and set up a solid system instead.
If I could give one criticism, it's the book doesn't spend enough time about how to break bad habits. In an interview, James Clear said you should replace it with a good habit instead. And that is a great tip the book either forgot to mention, or doesn't underline enough.
Made sense to me
The math, which is not explained in the book, is 1.01 times itself 365 times, or 1.01 to the power of 365 = 37.783... But this assumes improvement is exponential. I don't think you can get exponential improvements from things like weightlifting... Still, you can make a lot of progress if you do something every day. Habits are the right idea though. Humans are forgetful creatures, and things have to be internalized subsconsciously to be learned. But there's no limit to that. Look at our use of language. I don't think Doctor Smith from Lost in Space is a good example to follow, lol. Watch the oxalates from vegetables.
There are parts of the book that works for me and parts that are not. It depends on your current situation. So choose wisely.
Yah! Reading with purpose and intention! I dig
My problem is not the1% better. Sure, that can happen. My problem is halfway through, you're hit by the wrecking ball sportingly called life. Suddenly you're back to square one.
The other issue is his notion that the best way to cure procrastination is through incorporating something as part of your identity. Like, if you want to read more, just start thinking of yourself as a reader. That's not how anything works. People who read do so because there are books they want to read, and they enjoy the process. They just do it. They don't wake up going, "I am a person who reads, therefore I must pick up this book and finish it." They are just excited to get back to the story.
If you want to quit smoking, you don't think, "I am a person who doesn't smoke." People who don't smoke don't want to smoke. It isn't even something that occurs to them. This is the whole _don't think about pink elephants_ thing. They way you quit an addiction is to find something else that you prefer doing instead.
That’s not the entire conception of identity-based habits. Your habits are like evidence your brain collects. He’s not saying to be like “I’m a reader, so I’m gonna read this book”, he’s saying have the identity you want, align with your habits. This means you have to get yourself to read (the other methods you can use in the book allow you to do this), and over time once you put in the reps, the habit will be established, and your identity will have shifted, and as we know from the voting study he mentioned in that same chapter (I found the study as I did many others like the implementation intention one), your beliefs about yourself (identity) influence your actions (habits), effectively creating a self-assuring identity-habit loop.
@@runicthor4105 No, James is not just saying that once you change your habits your identity will have shifted. That's just stating the obvious. He pretty explicitly tells the reader to do what I'm describing, not just once but throughout the book. He advises you to change your identity in order to change your habits. He wasn't just commenting on the cycle you've described. He merely used that as evidence to back up his prescription. In fact, you're going in reverse.
@@TheDraftHorse2025 Changing your perception and identity is crucial for habit changing. It builds your confidence
@@TheDraftHorse2025 ah yea I’ve went back since then and have seen what you are talking about. But he is kinda of right, he’s cited evidence about people being more likely to vote when they identify themselves as voters in a study (I found it). What he’s getting at with the identity-based habits, is that when you get your identity involved, the related behaviour will become more likely to happen. Identity influences habits, habits influences identity is pretty much the paradigm right there, and he is correct about that. And the other importance in the identity-based habits is that it’s superior to goal based habits, as goal based habits tend to be temporary changes, as pointed out in the systems over goals paradigms. And when it comes to systems, by defining your identity, it can act as a sort of outline for your systems.
I think you're missing the point.
Hey, I just finished reading that chapter and had the exact same thought! What the heck does 1% improvement look like for most tasks anyway? Ok, let's keep it simple and track miles walked - I actually do want to walk more.
(If I walk 1 mile on day one, that's an infinite improvement from day zero, like you said, but never mind.) On day 2, I walk 1.01 miles. By day 233, I'm walking 10.06 miles a day; day 303, I'm walking 20.19 miles a day; day 362, I'm walking 36.31 miles a day. Needless to say, that's a ridiculous amount of walking that I'm never going to keep up. And I fail to achieve 37X improvement. Drat.
😃 good one, I struggled to make sense of this too, good to know I wasn't alone
Yah exactly! Another great intuitive example! Should’ve used this one instead of the medical diseases one I used in the video 😂
@@spoonfedstudy his example is too good
And also by day 233, you've reduced your cholesterol, regulated your blood sugar, lost body fat, toned your muscles, improved your sleep, increased your energy, gained mental clarity and boosted your sexual stamina 😊
I saw it as more of a way of motivating people to improve 1% daily because it seems very easily achievable when they're first forming a new habit. Which makes the habit more accessible in our minds and we feel satisfied completing that goal each day. (Which he talks about later in the 4 laws of behaviour change).
He goes into how bad habits are easy to form because they're easily achievable and give you satisfying results immediately.
Which is why I think the 1% rule can be useful for people to see some sort of 'Atomic' result in the long tedious road to seeing substantial growth.
Read the chapter Advanced tactics - The downside of creating Good Habits
This is great content. Made me think. Skool seems promising, but i cant afford it. I think it could be a good fit for you though.
Ok but setting the 1% rule aside , do you support what the book says after that ?
Brought so much insight to my perception about lang journey
Atomic Habits is great for anyone ready to re-build their internal axioms. It's a recipe for change.
Naval Ravikant calls it "making leverage"
Your example with 1 disease per day kinda ignores that further down the line, he might also learn more than 1 per day (as he's also better at learning), he might also be more knowledgeable (more than the sum of it's parts) as he'll be able to pinpoint more unique diagnoses, be more sure that the disease isn't documented yet, etc. So yeah... by simply learning "1 hour per day" (as opposed to 1 disease per day), he might become a walking disease expert. The cream of the crop...
To speak about 1% I think you should apply concept from engineering, which essentially says: there is a region on the curve for which the pattern holds.
For example. If you are overweight by 20kg then you could device a plan where everyday you lose 0.2kg. You would be improving by 1% then (but not in a compound way, in a way that looks at initial and end condition). But once you reach the ideal BMI, the improvement in the weight department stops.
With knowledge I think you can make both 1% improvement (domain specific knowledge) and compound effect (e.g. knowing three languages gives you pretty good intuition on words in other related languages).
But yeah. For fitness there is a level that is: move your body and eat your greens and you will be at this level no effort. There is also level: eat insane amount of protein and be a gym rat to maintain this level of physique.
For knowledge there is stage that you can truly boost your knowledge by 1%, but there is level where you just run to not become this professor- type guy who's knowledge base is outdated and quotes debunked research from 40 years ago.
Then there is being old and doing stuff just to deteriorate slower. Such is life. 1% and compound effect holds in Some areas and for a period of time. But then it doesn't .
Totally agree. A lot of it does come down to the specific situation and what you want to achieve as you’ve astutely pointed out with the various examples. The degree whereby your inputs affect your outputs can depend on so many things
great video but wish it was in the form of 10s videos in endless scroll form.
38% increase in a thing is not the same as 38 times better. The book only claims that you will be 38% better not 3800% I want to believe you made a genuine error but somehow i don’t think that’s the case. You’re better than this.
Look at it again Moses. The tagline is actually 37.78 better, not 37.78%. Mathematically 1% compounded 365 times gives you 37.78, which again is 37.78x better. (1.01^365) That’s why practically, 1% better everyday for 365 days is inherently not easily attainable as a pure concept in and of itself.
If you watch the whole video, you will find that this video does not oppose Atomic Habits, it compliments it. Interesting ideas behind 1% increase. Most people (including myself) don't really understand what it actuality implies.
Atomic habits makes perfect sense! For the author. How much money did he make off of that book?
I think you've purposely missed the point.
Why you focused so much on this 1% thing? It's not the point that people appreciate or take away from this book.
I really love your channel. But after watching the first 4 min, I have a serious doubt: Have you read the book? I did. The author does not mention that just 1% everyday is enough. He says somedays you’ll do more than in others. The book is about becoming your change. Read the book, please.
Thanks for your feedback! I hear you. Overall, the book does provide a lot of insights that are helpful. The idea behind this video was just to go more in depth on what consistently “getting better” at something each day may look like and lend some tips on other strategies that may help in that journey.
Ok. You’re picking just the main idea for this video. Got it. As I said to a former manager, who loves the book we’re discussing: It’s like cleaning my desk. 0% of germs killed everyday is nothing. Zero is not even a number to me. I rather wait a week or two and get 500000 results! THAT is success.🤣” I became more productive after reading the 12 week year. The only book that worked for me.
Ok. You’re picking just the main idea for this video. Got it. As I said to a former manager, who loves the book we’re discussing: It’s like cleaning my desk. 0% of germs killed everyday is nothing. Zero is not even a number to me. I rather wait a week or two and get 500000 results! THAT is success.🤣” I became more productive after reading the 12 week year. The only book that worked for me.
That's exactly what I think. Thank you
haha this is nice. You thought it through well mr spoonfedstudy.
Thanks Jack! Haha never been called mrspoonfedstudy before but it’s kind of cool!
I honestly just feel this video was made to be contrarian to something that is popular.
Exceptional content
Thank you! Wasn’t sure this was going to resonate with people given how popular this book is but I’m glad you are here :)
I really liked the book the Power of Habit
Discord, a lot of people have accounts on discord already it'll be more easily accessible. I'm not sure what skool is
Noted!
Increase by proportional percentage
I like how you didn't shit on atomic habits ❤😂
Since Elon Musk is planing his days in 5 minutes blocks and very successfull, I think planing out is in fact corelated with success, so I like the advertised app❤
Nice video too👍
Ah yes, another "guru" book in a sea of "guru" books. Selling shovels during a gold rush is a highly profitable business.
shit you not, this is also my thought when I heard the everyday improve 1% rule. I was like, do you even know maths. Do you even know the different between addition and multiplication. It is like, in day 1 I make $1, everyday I made 1% more, it is not hard right? Then in a few years I will be the richest person in the world. But then, I realize, yea. James has to expand his few ideas into a book, and he has to make these ideas catchy. So I just gave up and don't even bother to read. For me that book might have some merits but clearly the author does not know what he is talking about, or he intentionally writing false information and idea.
Thank you for making this video though. I think all we need is not some idealistic methodologies to help, but something that is actually actionable.
9:39 This guy is a negative nelly missing the forest through the trees. He's nerding out on being too literal on the 1% idea (for half the video) instead of seeing the point. Not every bit of advice works for all but some comments I see here seem hypercritical. Maybe they want a quick fix which is not realistic. You have to do the work. I taught myself these principles long ago when I loved my life but forgot after many taumatic events. This guy seems more about tooting his own bell and being an advertisement. I guess some ppl have nothing else to post about.
omg what a clever guy you arethx a lot
Finally somebody calling out that dude. Good job.
Thanks Bill! Appreciate you
@@spoonfedstudy You are doing a good job. Keep it going. Btw for a interesting topic you might consider the 'Dual N Back' brain training.
Interesting! Haven’t heard of that before. Will look into it!
Amazing!!!
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Sup
Sup sup
NVidia
Martinez William Martinez James Lopez Joseph
clickbaity title, purposely missing the point. youtube please dont recomend channel again
Discord
Noted!
you debunked it perfectly.
Check your pushup form. Not great.
Uh oh 😨
Skool
you're not that guy, go to sleep
safe to say that majority of people fell for the marketing of this book.