How would you react if I told you that your child made a 1% improvement in their tutoring lesson?
One of the most profound lessons I have learnt is that 1% improvement is good enough!!! Any movement forward is progress, and as long as we are making progress.... THAT IS GOOD ENOUGH!
If you were to make a 1% improvement in any area of your life...... everyday.... imagine what you would achieve over a period of a year. Far too often, we place HUGE expectations on ourselves and others to make BIG improvements and quickly. Think about how when we decide that we want to become fitter, thinner, smarter, wealthier.... how we quickly become impatient and disappointed in ourselves for not being able to make these changes quickly enough. How often does this sense of failure lead us to quit altogether?
I think we need to be kinder to ourselves. Allow ourselves to make just 1% improvement (every day if possible). The small improvements slowly add up and we find that we begin to feel a sense of achievement. This feeling of success, will often drive us to work even a little harder on some days. We find more energy in the process.
Our children can learn this valuable lesson too. If all they can manage at first is a 1% improvement in their chosen area of work (academic, emotional intelligence, work ethic, friendship issues) - let this 1% feel good enough. Let them rest in the knowledge at the days end that they have made progress and that tomorrow brings another opportunity to add just another 1% to their efforts. This does not feel overwhelming, but achievable and good.
If we do not feel overwhelmed, we are more likely to persevere. It is through consistent perseverance that real change and growth starts to take shape. Remember that big change is the result of hundreds of tiny steps and they all count.
"Whatever we learn to do, we learn by actually doing it: men come to be builders, for instance, by building, and harp players , by playing the harp. In the same way, by doing just acts we come to be just; by doing self-controlled acts, we come to be self-controlled; and by doing brave acts, we come to be brave." Aristotle
Comments