The 1% Rule

There’s a moment in every journey - a quiet, subtle moment - when you look back and realize:
You’ve come further than you ever thought you would.

For me, that moment didn’t come in victory… It came in reflection.

This past weekend, I crossed the finish line of Ironman 70.3 Warsaw. It wasn’t just a race. It was a test of resilience - forged not in a single decision, but in thousands of tiny ones.

Step by step.

Choice by choice.

Year by year.

Last year, I participated in Ironman 70.3 Gdynia, but unfortunately wasn’t able to finish due to organisational issues. It was frustrating. Empty. But I didn’t let it define me. I went back to work - physically, mentally, emotionally.

I trained. I healed.

But more importantly, I kept showing up.

I didn’t have some perfect comeback plan. I didn’t suddenly reinvent myself overnight. What I did was simple:

I got 1% better - every day.

Since that unfinished race in Gdynia, I’ve kept going - with quiet resolve and relentless consistency. I’ve reflected deeply and often. And what I’ve come to realise is this: I’m further than I ever imagined. Not just in endurance sports, but in every part of my life. As an athlete, yes - but also as a professional in my IT career, as a son, a brother, a grandson, a friend… and most importantly, as a human being.

It all comes down to one thing:
I’ve just been showing up and doing the thing.

Years of building consistency.

Years of earning momentum.

Years of following through, even when no one was watching.

That’s what made the difference.

Ego, Failure, and the Illusion of Overnight Growth

In my early twenties, I chased results with a clouded vision. Ego blinded me. I wanted big wins fast. I wanted to prove something - to others, and to myself. But failure humbled me. Slowly, it peeled back the layers. And in the silence that followed, I started listening…

Learning. Rebuilding.

We’re all conditioned to believe success is loud and fast. We glamorise overnight transformations. Viral moments. “All or nothing.” But real growth? It’s silent. Incremental. Often invisible - until one day, it isn't.

Here’s the truth I’ve learned:
You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.

And systems are built one habit, one decision, one action at a time.

There’s science behind this too…

A study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that individuals who committed to simple, consistent implementation intentions (like “I will exercise at 6 PM every day”) were 91% more likely to follow through on their goals compared to those who relied only on motivation or unrealised, unacted, vague intentions.

The takeaway? It’s not about intensity - it’s about consistency.

That’s the 1% Rule in action right there:

It’s getting up early when it’s hard.

It’s doing the workout when you don’t feel like it.

It’s listening instead of defending.

It’s writing that one paragraph.

It’s choosing growth when it would be easier to stay comfortable.

No dramatic leaps. Just compound effort.

Progress Stacked Daily

When ego blocks our view, failure clears it, and that's where the growth begins.

Performance director Dave Brailsford famously led the British cycling team to Olympic success by applying the “1% improvement” concept by tweaking every detail from equipment design and nutrition to bike cleanliness. Brailsford believed in a concept that he referred to as the “aggregation of marginal gains” and he explained it as “the one percent margin for improvement in everything you do.” His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just one percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. Over time, those tiny gains compounded into dominance, with multiple Olympic golds and Tour de France wins.

The hardest road often hides the ripest fruit, and all you’ve got to do is keep going.

Life is not about waiting for storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. And when dancing in the rain, I've noticed that not only the acceptance of the rain is quite peaceful and brings clarity, but also in the process we can slowly, progressively improve...

Over all these years, I’ve been getting better - 1% at the time, and those 1%s kept stacking up, until the moment of reflection hit me how far I've gotten.

It's important to note that as we get better, our ego grows too. So we've got to keep it in check. Control it. But in the grand scheme of things, that's all it takes...

Just getting better - 1% at the time.

Keep Dancing in the Rain

Life doesn’t wait for perfect timing. It doesn’t pause the storm. It asks you to dance in the rain - soaked, uncertain, but still moving. And somewhere in that messy movement, you get better.

In embracing the rain, we find our rhythm and become ever better dancers to the music of life itself.

You grow. Not by miles. But by inches.
Not in a day. But day by day.

What feels like falling apart is often just falling into place.
What seems like stagnation is really silent progress.

Because getting better is not about massive changes overnight.
It's about getting 1% better every day.

Small habits.
Small wins.
Small steps that add up when you stay consistent.

You don't have to be perfect.
You just have to keep moving.
Growth is built one choice at a time.

So here’s my reminder to you - and to myself:

You don’t have to be perfect.

You just have to keep moving.

You just have to get 1% better.

That’s how the impossible becomes inevitable.

Keep showing up.
Keep doing the thing.
The 1% Rule will take care of the rest.
Keep fucking going.