1% in July

A new round of the 1% experiment begins! Are you in?

(This voiceover is an audio version of the newsletter below. As always, it’s unedited. If you like or need to listen to these posts I hope you enjoy it!)

Photo by Hannah Troupe on Unsplash

Hello my friends and happy Sunday!

If you’re wondering why I’m in your inbox on a Sunday, it’s because the next round of our 1% experiment is about to begin. Usually, the experiment runs closer to school terms, but because of the way dates fall this month, I’m jumping in early for the new round, and I’d love you to join us!

In case you’re new to The Tortoise, the 1% experiment is a year-long group experiment that encourages us to answer the question:

What might happen if I commit 1% of my day to making a positive change?

The theory being it’s a little like compound interest — at first we’ll barely notice the impact, but as our efforts continue and improvements grow, it will start to stack up.

To do this, we take an area or two of life that we’d like to grow or improve and commit to regular one-percent efforts. That might mean:

• spending 1% of your day/week on that area of life (1% of a day = 15 minutes OR 1% of a week = 1.5 hours)

• increasing a specific practice by 1% a day, growing it by tiny increments until you reach a desired level

• giving 1% extra effort in a specific area of life

If you want to join in, please do! It’s a slow, sustainable, low-stakes way of making change, and as I discovered again this term, there’s always something we can do to move the needle on our goals.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to The Tortoise to get updates straight to your inbox, and if you’d also like to join our monthly accountability threads, you can sign up as a paying supporter for AU$5/month*. (That’s US$3.30, £2.60, €3.)

(*Please note that prices for The Tortoise will be rising in September as my back catalogue of retreats and workshops grows, so if you've been thinking about joining, now might be a good time.)

Looking back at June

Last round of the experiment, I focused on two areas of life that I wanted to improve on — health and pleasure.

Health

I’ve had a huge focus on my health so far in 2024. Some of that is by force and some by choice.

This term, I wanted to find more of that vitality I’ve had glimpses of over the past six months, so I really focused on ways to help me feel slightly lighter, brighter, or more connected to my energy.

Most days, that’s looked like ten minutes of gentle stretching every morning while I wait for the coffee to brew, and walking our dog. For the first few weeks, I would try to talk myself out of it (“It’s only ten minutes, it won’t make a difference.”) but I knew that if I just got myself on the mat or out the door, my body would take over. And while it can be difficult to find measures of progress with this kind of thing, I realised the other day that I can do a forward-bend without any back pain (unheard of a couple of months ago) and my body just generally feels better. The ripple effects of that are more movement, better sleep, more joy in my body.

Combined with a couple of small changes to my diet, drinking more water, eating more greens, I’ve managed a solid 1% effort in health and while I don’t experience it every day, I definitely feel more of that sense of vitality I’ve been craving. 

Pleasure

This year is all about finding and exploring joy (it’s my word of the year), so I focused my other one-percent on pleasure, which feels very closely connected. The goal being to find different ways of experiencing pleasure/joy in the everyday.

I started out strong and probably let it slide a little as the days got shorter and my usual pleasures — sitting in the sun, time in the garden — fell by the wayside. What I did notice though was my ability to find pleasure in things I already do has gotten better. I find working on my novel pleasurable, same as doing the daily Wordle, reading a great book, laughing, moving my body, eating a piece of chocolate, listening to music loud in the car, dancing, cleaning the bathroom mirror, crossing items off my to-do list.

So I’d say that while my efforts to chase specific pleasures intentionally might have slipped, my ability to find pleasure all around me has gotten better. As a result, I’m using it to bolster me on low days, to balance out hard emotions and to deliver some perspective. It’s actually become a really powerful tool in my arsenal, and I use it whenever I can to right the balance a little.

Image courtesy of Marty O’Donnell at MOD Photography

So what about the next round of the experiment?

As I’ve done throughout the year, I’m going to choose two areas of focus: health and creativity.

Health

I’m going to keep going with health, mostly because I want to see what happens — what I learn and gain and focus on — if I keep one consistent area for an entire year.

I’ll also keep the slightly vague measuring stick of more vitality. I know from experience that I feel more vital when I’m physically stronger, so I’m going to work on gradually improving my physical strength. Whether that’s simple bodyweight exercises, light hand weights, or working up to some more significant weights as the weeks progress, I plan to make at least three of my one-percents every week about lifting stuff. I think it’ll be fun to have a concrete way of measuring progress.

Creativity

Secondly, I’ll focus on creativity. I was going to go with 15 minutes a day spent on my novel, but it’s way above that already, and that felt like cheating. So, in addition to the creative writing I already do, I’m going to give 15 minutes a day to making something.

I’m working on some granny square cushion covers, and there’s a blanket I started in the first lockdown that I never finished. Plus, deep winter is the perfect time for cosy crochet, so I feel like that’s a good option. And I’m not going to lie, I like the idea that I can see where I’ve been as the projects (hopefully) grow and progress.

This is the first time I’m not writing myself a Grab and Go list to pick and choose from, mostly because I already know what my efforts will look like. I’m curious to see whether I am more or less likely to stick to the fifteen minutes a day without them, or if my brain will try and sabotage me. (She does that sometimes.)

If you’d like to download a copy of the Grab and Go list and 1% Experiment Tracker, you can do so here. The first is for those of you focusing on one area of life, the second is for those of us exploring two.

1% Experiment Printable One

73.7KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

1% Experiment Printable Two

78.4KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

And if you have trouble accessing the downloads above, you can find them here (one area) and here (two areas).

Have you been playing along with the 1% experiment? How did last round go? And do you have any plans for this one — whether that’s the same thing or something new?  

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As mentioned in Thursday’s letter, I’m now on my regular two-week break while the kids are on holidays, but I’ve got a couple of letters scheduled to be delivered while I’m away:

• Thursday 18 July: A Tortoise plodcast episode, all about finding (or abandoning) balance

• Sunday 21^st July: Our second Rituals Mini-workshop for paying supporters. This one will be about the ritual of unplugging. If you’d like to know more about these monthly workshops, you can get a sneak peek of our first one here.

If you would like to become a paying subscriber, and beat the price increase coming in September, you can do so here. It will not only give you access to the monthly updates and accountability threads for the 1% experiment and all my previous workshops and online retreats, you’ll also get the Rituals workshops delivered to your inbox each month and occasional additional Sunday letters.

I hope you’re enjoying your mid-winter or mid-summer, and that this weekend brings you a chance for a sliver of delight, downtime or both. Until I’m back in your inbox in a couple of weeks, take good care of yourself.

Brooke xx