the advice "do today 1% better than yesterday" does not work for me because my brain doesn't like the mathematical quantification of my experience and also it makes me feel like i am not doing well-enough. i do not like that it implies being a person is a perfect upwards line.
it is better to say make today 1% better. there are things you can do right now that will make today 1% better than it currently is. it is not being held in competition with your past self nor is it putting pressure on your future self.
it's okay if today is a bad day. you could maybe brush your teeth. you could probably do a 5-minute meditation. you might be able to get a glass of water. for style points you could even attempt to wash your face, even if it's more like splashing around in the sink. raising the type of day by 1% is better than throwing the entire day in the bin.
sometimes you will get to the 1% and that will be the end of your energy, but you did make it 1% better, and it will feel good to have attempted it. sometimes the 1% will roll into 2% which will roll into 50%, which is delightful. 1% is often very-doable. even just shifting your pillows so your neck isn't getting a crick counts as a 1% effort.
there will be days where the 1% will not be doable, and you will actively be fighting yourself from making it worse. that is okay. but one of the things that i have learned from doing this (as someone with impulse control issues) is that i often stop myself and say is this going to make it better or worse? sometimes the answer is worse and i don't care. but sometimes my 1% of effort is actually not doing something. i decide i am too-tired, i shouldn't go out tonight. i decide that i am making a bad choice. i decide to stay-still, and that is my 1%. i am doing better, slowly.
today was a bad day, i struggled to get out of bed. but i just made myself do 3 minutes of yoga. it is barely anything. and let me tell you: i feel fucking excellent.
i love you. i hope you give yourself 1%.
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner
