Hello everyone, today we are going to talk about habits. It is a pretty vast topic. So I will probably cover in it in parts. First we are going to talk about the very fundamentals of Habits and why small changes can over time bring a BIG change in life. So without further ado, lets get to it.
A habit is a routine or behaviour that is performed regularly and in many cases automatically. now I want you to ask yourself why are habits important? Before you answer that let me tell you a story. In 2003, the fate of British cycling changed. They were considered as one of the weakest teams of cycling sports. Many brands won't even sell them their products because they thought that it would hurt their sales. Since 1908, British had only won a single gold medal in Olympics.
Then the British Cycling Committee decided to hire a new coach, his name was-- Brailsford that changed the trajectory of Brits cycling team and what made him different from other coaches was his strategy that he referred to as ' the aggregation of marginal gains'. The whole principle was based on the idea that if you broke down everything that you could think of that goes into riding a bicycle, and then improve it by only 1 percent. You will get a significant increase when you put them all together.
And just five years laters after Brailsford took over, The British Cycling team dominated the road and track cycling events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where they won an astounding 60 percent of the gold medals available. During the ten year-span from 2007 to 2017, British cyclist won 178 championships ad sixty-six Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured five Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.
Now how does it happen? How does a team of previously ordinary athletes transform into world champions with tiny changes that, probably at first glance would seem nothing at all. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action. Whether it is losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship or achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make in such a way that everyone will talk about.
Meanwhile, improving by 1 percent isn't particularly notable, in fact it might not be noticeable at all-- but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. Here's how the math works: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you'll end up getting better thirty-seven times by the time you're done.
So don't look at anything from a short term, think long term. If you start learning something just one-percent for a year. Imagine by the time you are done. You will have significantly improved. Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold.
What is the difference between goals and systems? Goals are about the result you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that leads to that result. If you want better results forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead. Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall growth.
One step at a time is all that it takes you to get there-- Emily Dickinson
