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Slowly ... then all at once
Small steps to massive change
Rob Norris
March 12, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
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Table of Contents
Pull to Eject
Slowly … then all at once.
It’s how championship sports teams and empires collapse.
But the inverse is more compelling.
Huge gains can be the result of tiny steps.
Many believe that a defining moment - the big bang theory of your career - is the thing that leads to huge success.
And it’s a lie.
It’s rarely a lucky break.
Compounding work is the culprit that generates the most success.
Whether its writing a book, starting a consultancy, teaching a course or creating a digital product - your next chapter does not need to include some point-of-no-return chasm crossing.
In fact, 1% better every day can lead to 37 times improvement this year.
And who doesn’t want those gains?
British Cycling case study
In 2002, when Sir Dave Brailsford became head of British Cycling, the team had zero Tour de France victories and 1 single Olympic gold medal since 1908.
A century of toiling mediocrity.
That quickly changed under Sir Dave’s leadership. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his squad won seven out of 10 gold medals, and at the London Olympics four years later they set 9 Olympic records and 7 World Records.
And Brits have now won the Granddaddy Tour de France 6 times.
From 2007 to 2018, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured 6 Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.
And it all started with small things the cyclists could monitor.
They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable. They asked riders to wear electrically heated overshorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature.
The team tested various fabrics in a wind tunnel and had their outdoor riders switch to indoor racing suits, which proved to be lighter and more aerodynamic.
They tested different types of massage gels to see which led to the fastest muscle recovery. They determined the type of pillow and mattress that led to the best night’s sleep for each rider - and carried those to every hotel.
Daily measurement. Daily improvement.
Nutrition, wattage, aerodynamics, bio feedback, sleep metrics, clothing material - hundreds of tiny improvements added up to sea change results in a few short years.
Yellowstone Wolves
Signed into law in 1872 by Ulysses S. Grant, Yellowstone was the first national park and became America’s largest and wildest tourist attraction.
But by 1926, humans had wiped out wolves in an attempt to civilize the park.
Yellowstone was still beautiful, but the whole ecosystem was weaker without the apex predators.
The 1995 reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone has had a multi decade cascading affect that scientists did not envision.
The elk herds have become healthier by reverting to smaller groups moving throughout the park instead of eating all the foliage near streams.
As a result, wildflowers and willows have been restored. Which in turn changed stream banks, which grew new species including berries. Berries attracted more bears.
And the willows attracted beaver colonies who created new ponds which attracted additional species.
Birds of prey, bobcats, and mountain lions - all came back because the Wolves were managing the Elk herds better.
It didn’t happen overnight, but the Yellowstone Northern range is the wildest its been in over 100 years. Wolves transformed the Yellowstone ecosystem, saving it from imbalance and restoring its natural beauty.
A nature story wouldn’t be complete without Sir David Attenborough’s narration.
Aggregation of Marginal Gains
The aggregation of marginal gains is the process of making small, incremental improvements in various areas, which, when combined, lead to a substantial overall improvement.
Scientists didn’t expect wolves to improve the growth of wildflowers.
Brialsford couldn’t predict Tour de France podiums.
The marginal gains approach applies to any walk of life and works for any skill, knowledge, attitude, experience or relationship.
Every positive action that you take or negative action you avoid is like earning compounding interest towards your future self.
As time goes on, these small improvements or declines compound and you suddenly find a very big gap between people who make slightly better decisions on a daily basis and those who don’t.
Focus on the little things that matter.
You don’t need to reintroduce wolves to your neighborhood.
I started a daily writing habit last summer and it has turned into a newsletter.
How will you turn your experience into something new?
Is now the moment for that subtle 1% shift toward transformation?
Now go launch something 🚀
Subscriber Stories: Dean Otto
The Launch Key community is comprised of remarkable people - none more so than Dean Otto.
Dean is the rare exception who did have a defining moment.
And in the depths of his devastating accident, he defined forgiveness and grace that propelled him toward new audiences.
It started with three lives forever intertwined.
Dean’s life changed in an unimaginable accident, with a 98% chance of permanent paralysis. But he chose hope and forgiveness. The driver of the truck and the doctor who healed him became part of his remarkable journey.
Stryker - the medical technology company - was so moved by his story that they asked him to speak at a corporate meeting.
That led to a number of public speaking opportunities. What started as a way to raise funding for spinal cord injuries has become a full fledged calling.
Dean’s career portfolio today includes a book1 and speaking engagements around the country sharing his story.
No one wants their defining moment to be a 2% chance to walk again.
But Dean Otto did exactly that.
And if your group needs a motivational speaker, you won’t find a more genuine one.
There are 300 million ways to do it.
Find the way that works for you.
Ready to build your own digital product?
This step-by-step Launch 🚀 kit guides you through discovery.
Frame up your unique experience and authentic voice.
Research links, real life examples and smart steps gleaned from 30 years of creating innovative digital products.
Modern Tools
James Clear’s2 book pushed him to the top of the self improvement guru list. But he continued to add to it with articles, newsletters and now the official Atomic Habits app: Atoms.
In collaboration with Tiny, the Canadian technology holding company co-founded by Andrew Wilkinson, the app launched last month in the Apple App Store and soon for Google Play.
Old School Wisdom
Currently the #1 selling book on Amazon across all categories, Atomic Habits has helped more than 15 million people improve their lives. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
James Clear’s wisdom and small changes advice can be broken down to 4 laws of changing behaviors:
Make it obvious
Make it attractive
Make it easy
Make it satisfying
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving - slowly … then all at once.
Free Knowledge
The Rundown is the world’s fastest-growing AI newsletter, with over 500,000+ readers staying up-to-date with the latest AI news and learning how to apply it.
Our research team spends all day learning what’s new in AI, then distills the most important developments into one free email every morning.
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1 Dean Otto: 2% Chance: A Journey In Resilience, Recovery, And Rebirth
2 James Clear - books, articles, newsletters, speaking engagements
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