The Incredible(inˈkredəbəl) Progress of Daily(ˈdālē) Practice(ˈpraktəs)

The Incredible(inˈkredəbəl) Progress of Daily(ˈdālē) Practice(ˈpraktəs)

By Leo Babauta

Lately(ˈlātlē) in my life, I’ve been repeatedly(riˈpētidlē) reminded(riˈmīnd) of the power of practicing something regularly(ˈreg(ə)lər,ˈregyələr).

Daily is best, I’ve learned, but several times a week works well too.

You’d be surprised(sə(r)ˈprīzd) how much progress you can make with even a small amount of practice, applied(əˈplīd) regularly.

Some examples in my life recently:

A daily yoga(ˈyōgə) practice of just 10 minutes: I am not an experienced(ikˈspi(ə)rēənst) yogi(ˈyōgē), I’m very inflexible(inˈfleksəbəl), and because I only practice yoga sporadically(spəˈradik), I don’t really(ˈrē(ə)lē) make any progress. But recently I committed to practicing yoga for just 10 minutes a day (a few sun salutations(ˌsalyəˈtāSHən), mostly) … when I started, my shoulders(ˈSHōldər) would get exhausted(igˈzôstid) in downward(ˈdounwərd) dog fairly(ˈfe(ə)rlē) quickly. But now, I’m able to hold the poses(pōz) for longer(läNG,lôNG) without tiring(tīr) as much! I’ve really seen some solid(ˈsälid) progress with just 10 minutes of daily practice. Of course, that’s not the point of yoga (it’s a mindfulness(ˈmīndfəlnəs) practice), but it’s still amazing to see that kind of progress.

Running 3-4 times a week with Eva: Eva and I started doing a half-marathon(ˈmarəˌTHän) training plan by No Meat(mēt) Athlete(ˈaTHˌlēt) about 6 or 7 weeks ago. We do 3-4 runs a week (depending on our schedules(-jəl,ˈskejo͞ol)), and when we started out, we were both pretty(ˈpritē) out of shape(SHāp). Eva had to stop a couple times even on a 2-mile(mīl) run, and I was far from my peak running shape. But six weeks into it — just doing short runs — we can see a huge((h)yo͞oj) difference(ˈdif(ə)rəns). At no point did we push ourselves too hard, but just doing it regularly really made a solid amount of progress.

Studying go for just 10-20 minutes a day: I’ve been studying the ancient(ˈānCHənt) Chinese game of go this year, and I’m still very weak at it. Honestly(ˈänistlē), if I had more time to study, I might be much stronger. But instead(inˈsted), I’ve been just doing about 10-20 minutes of studying a day, and I’m still making noticeable(ˈnōtisəbəl) progress with my calculating(ˈkalkyəˌlātiNG) ability(əˈbilitē). Still not strong, but I’m getting stronger slowly, just putting in a minimal(ˈminəməl) amount of study time.

Chin-ups with my son 3 times a week: In the last couple of weeks, my 13-year-old son and I decided to do a chin-ups challenge(ˈCHalənj). Three times a week, we do five sets of chin-ups during the day. When I started out, I could only do 10-11 chin-ups per set, but now I can do 16-17 each set. In less than two weeks. That kind of progress is encouraging(enˈkərijiNG).

Daily focus sessions by a client: I have a coaching(kōCH) client who does daily focus sessions, training himself to focus on something longer. He just does 15-minute sessions every day, which isn’t a lot. But he’s seen his ability increase noticeably, even when he’s not doing a focus session.

Just a small amount of daily practice, or at least a few times a week. It’s powerful.