Think BIG, Start Small!

Think big, start small: the marginal gain approach to a healthier you!

Imagine making only tiny changes in each area of your life to see great improvement in your health and wellness. Sound far-fetched? Well, it’s been proven to work!

It’s called the marginal gain, or the one per cent theory and it’s most commonly used in business, medicine and the military. But its most famous case study was when one sports coach made just one per cent changes to take Team Sky, the British cycling team, from obscurity to Olympic gold and Tour de France glory.

The team’s then-coach, Dave Brailsford, was tasked with improving their performance, so he applied a concept he called the “aggregation of marginal gains”, which is creating a one percent margin for improvement in everything you do. Making tiny changes in every facet of your life can add up to extraordinary improvement overall.

Brailsford and his team started improving the obvious: nutrition, weekly training, bike ergonomics and aerodynamics. Then they looked deeper, into improving areas previously overlooked, like taking their own mattresses and pillows when travelling for better sleep posture, finding the most effective massage gel – and even down to learning correct hand washing to avoid illness when they competed.

At that rate, Brailsford figured Team Sky could win the Tour de France in five years. They won it in three. In 2012, Team Sky’s Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. At the London Olympics that same year, the team won 70 percent of the gold medals available.

Think of it as taking baby steps towards big gains. And you make leaps and bounds in what you learn and experience along the way.

What is marginal gains all about?

It’s all to do with creating sustainable habits – something we believe is the best way to achieve success. But we’re not talking overnight success; you’ll need to be patient. For example, instead of going in guns blazing to quit coffee, use a smaller coffee cup, eat better or exercise more often. Only making incremental changes creates habits you are more likely to stick to.

Making gradual changes can be easier on your body and mind-set too. Cutting out one coffee a week will cause less withdrawals than going cold turkey. And your inner voice who throws up roadblocks of resistance when you push past your comfort zone? He will have less chance to talk you out of your goal if the change is minimal.

Remember, this process takes time so go easy on yourself. After all, you’re reprogramming your body and mind, so you’ll need to be persistent. But if you multiply each marginal gain in each area of your life, you will see your bigger picture of improvement and enjoy enhanced overall wellness. Which then spurs you on to keep going. Sounds good, right?

How can you take this approach in your own life?

You’ll need some time to reflect, focus and think about areas of your life you want to improve. Do you want to lose weight? Get fitter? Be less stressed? Or simply eat better?

Choose one area of your life to focus on and then break that down into sub-categories, each with tasks you can improve by one percent, by making one change.

Let’s take the goal of being less stressed. You can break that down into sub categories such as:

• Improve your sleep.
• Learn to meditate.
• Take proper lunch breaks.

One percent tasks towards this goal could be:

• Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual.
• Download a phone app or YouTube video and start meditating for 5 minutes each day.
• Eat lunch away from your desk, then go for a walk once a week.

Start small and keep going. Consistency is the key. And celebrate each win!

While it may seem like you’re not making progress, remember that it all adds up; each tiny improvement you make brings you one step closer to your overarching goal.

And if you can improve each area of your life by just one percent, how much better will your life look, and how much better will you feel over the next few years.

Join the Slim Meals Family for everything that you need to know, delivered straight to your inbox every week, and in a few months’ time you will start to feel some big benefits!