Welcome. The Xaryu Blog, a long time coming, and here it is: a space where I can expand further on thoughts and ideas that are currently on my mind.

Today’s post: Progressive Overload, Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, 改善, or whatever you want to call it ⁠— the idea of constantly moving forward.

Let’s jump into it. Take two individuals as an example.

The first person is aiming to get .1% better each day (this could be anything strength, cognitive abilities, learning a new language, learning a new skill, etc).

The second person didn’t think that .1% would amount to much, because it is so miniscule, so they ended up skipping out on this process. Instead, they poured random bursts of energy into the areas they wanted to improve whenever they felt ‘motivated’.

This .1% daily seems too miniscule, such a tiny feat. Why not just skip it?

With a short term mindset the second person is right, that tiny bit doesn’t amount to much in the short term, it doesn’t actually change much at all.

However, with a long term mindset the first person is on the path to success. That tiny bit daily adds up.

Consider, after 10 days of small incremental improvements, that first person got an entire 1% better — if translated to an arena rating that might mean 10-15 points of improvement in 10 days. If translated to learning a new language that might mean acquiring multiple new words one could use to form a coherent sentence.

Fast forward 100 days. 365 days. 1000 days. The progress is astronomical. This is literally the difference maker.

The second person put in random bursts of energy when they feel motivated (for me days like this may occur say, once per month).

After 10 days, no progress. After 20 days, no progress. After 30 days, a bit of progress has been made. After 40 days, stagnation, maybe a slight decline. After 40 days, 50 days, 60 days, we’re almost back to square 1.

Fast forward 100 days. 365 days. 1000 days. Still no progress.

The difference between obtaining .1% daily or letting it go is the difference between progress and stagnation.

This is why I obsess over the .1%.

This is why breaking down large tasks into small achievable goals is effective.

This is why I talk about Kaizen or Continuous Improvement so much  — even going as far as printing it on my T-shirts (more to come soon).

Ask yourself, am I obsessing over getting the .1% gains each day, in whatever I want to achieve? Or am I letting it slip away, day by day?

Looking for somewhere to start? Do your DAILIES. Even though they are small, these things add up.