Weekly reflection: The power of iteration

This week, I’ve been reflecting on the nature of progress and how we often overestimate what we can achieve in a day but underestimate what we can achieve over time. There’s immense pressure to make quick, dramatic, life-altering changes. But this approach is rarely sustainable, often leading to burnout or frustration when the results don't match your expectations.

Playing iterative games means treating every day as an opportunity to improve, even if it’s just by 1%, and trusting the impact of consistency over a longer period. All the real returns in life, whether in wealth, relationships, or knowledge, come from compound interest, where small, consistent actions accumulate into significant results over time.

In wealth, it’s clear: investing consistently builds greater returns than sudden, one-time investments. In relationships, it’s the same—nurturing connections day by day builds deeper bonds. Knowledge follows the same path, where lifelong learning compounds, expanding your understanding exponentially.

This applies to every aspect of life: your career, personal growth, health, and relationships. A 1% improvement may feel insignificant in the moment, but over time, it compounds. At the end of a year, those small daily improvements add up to a 37x increase in whatever area you’re focusing on.

I'm sure you've seen this play several times, perhaps you were the main character. Every January, you set big goals: get in shape, start a business, read 50 books but by mid-February, you're back to your old habits.

So why keep trying to change your life overnight?

The lesson is simple: Play the long game. Life and personal growth are iterative processes where each action builds on the last.

Focus on progress, not perfection, and let time do the heavy lifting.

Aphorisms

1. Progress isn’t made in leaps; it’s built through steady, incremental effort.

• Progress doesn't happen in sudden jumps or bursts of activity.
• What appears as dramatic change often results from a foundation built through smaller consistent efforts.
• Steady effort is regular and reliable.
• Incremental effort: think of progress as taking minor steps each day rather than aiming for sweeping changes.

Practical example

Imagine you’re learning a new language. Instead of trying to master it all at once, you might practice for 20 minutes every day. Initially, your improvement might be slow and hardly noticeable. But over months, these daily practices add up, leading to significant progress and fluency. This steady, incremental approach is more effective than trying to cram all the learning into a few intense sessions.

2. Excellence is a quiet pursuit - one small improvement at a time.

• The journey toward excellence is not typically characterised by flashy or attention-grabbing actions. Instead, it’s often a behind-the-scenes process where the focus is on personal growth and refinement rather than public recognition.
• Excellence is something that requires ongoing commitment and perseverance, not a one-time achievement.

✍🏻 Quote of the week

Endless growth, 1% at a time.

Until next time,

Daniel.

PS, in case you've missed the previous posts, you can catch up here.