17 min
How Small Improvements Can Lead to Big Growth The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
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- Christianity
Today on episode 91, I talk about How Small Improvements can Lead to Big Growth. You’ll learn:
How great leaders share a philosophy of making small improvements How to improve your devotional life How to improve your daily schedule How to be the best you can be Transcript
Please save the date for the Climb, Small Church Leadership Conference December 2-5 in Dallas Texas. I hope to have registration set up before the end of the month. There will be an Asian Small Church Leadership Conference the following week. That will be held virtually and we will get more information to you about that.
How Small Improvements can Lead to Big Growth
Since 1908, British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games, and they had fared even worse in cycling’s biggest race, the Tour de France. In 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the event.
In fact, the performance of British riders had been so underwhelming that one of the top bike manufacturers in Europe refused to sell bikes to the team because they were afraid that it would hurt sales if other professionals saw the Brits using their gear.
Dave Brailsford had been hired to put British Cycling on a new trajectory. What made him different from previous coaches was his relentless commitment to a strategy that he referred to as “the aggregation of marginal gains,” which was the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do. Brailsford said, “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”
During the ten-year span from 2007 to 2017, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured 5 Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.[1]
This story reminds me that little improvements lead to big change over time. I’d like to ask you:
What if you got 1% better every day? What if your marriage got 1% better every day? What if your church or ministry got 1% better every day? James Clear, who wrote “Atomic Habits,” explains that initially your improvement will hardly be noticeable, but if you were to make a small 1% improvement every day, you would be thirty-seven times better than when you started.
Start Small to Go Big
When you study leaders who are making a difference, business leaders, coaches, ministers or even good parents, you’ll find a pattern of attention to small improvements. Read what the ten-time NCAA basketball championship winning coach, John Wooden, counsels:
“You have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you be able to approach being the best you can be.”
Paul shares the same principle in Ephesians 5:15-16:
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Paul tells us to be very careful about the small details of our lives. We need to examine the easy to overlook behaviors and routines that guide 90% of our lives. We need to pay attention to the small opportunities that pop up and that we often leave unexploited. We cannot be careless about the boring and seemingly insignificant details of our lives. What areas in our lives do we need to start being “very careful” with?
Be Very Careful With Your Devotional Life
How can you energize your walk with God? What can you do to find power and inspiration every morning that you spend with God? Do you miss days without connecting with God? Do you find yourself anxious to get started with your “real work” during your devotional time? Does your spiritual routine leave you at peace a
Today on episode 91, I talk about How Small Improvements can Lead to Big Growth. You’ll learn:
How great leaders share a philosophy of making small improvements How to improve your devotional life How to improve your daily schedule How to be the best you can be Transcript
Please save the date for the Climb, Small Church Leadership Conference December 2-5 in Dallas Texas. I hope to have registration set up before the end of the month. There will be an Asian Small Church Leadership Conference the following week. That will be held virtually and we will get more information to you about that.
How Small Improvements can Lead to Big Growth
Since 1908, British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games, and they had fared even worse in cycling’s biggest race, the Tour de France. In 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the event.
In fact, the performance of British riders had been so underwhelming that one of the top bike manufacturers in Europe refused to sell bikes to the team because they were afraid that it would hurt sales if other professionals saw the Brits using their gear.
Dave Brailsford had been hired to put British Cycling on a new trajectory. What made him different from previous coaches was his relentless commitment to a strategy that he referred to as “the aggregation of marginal gains,” which was the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do. Brailsford said, “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”
During the ten-year span from 2007 to 2017, British cyclists won 178 world championships and 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured 5 Tour de France victories in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.[1]
This story reminds me that little improvements lead to big change over time. I’d like to ask you:
What if you got 1% better every day? What if your marriage got 1% better every day? What if your church or ministry got 1% better every day? James Clear, who wrote “Atomic Habits,” explains that initially your improvement will hardly be noticeable, but if you were to make a small 1% improvement every day, you would be thirty-seven times better than when you started.
Start Small to Go Big
When you study leaders who are making a difference, business leaders, coaches, ministers or even good parents, you’ll find a pattern of attention to small improvements. Read what the ten-time NCAA basketball championship winning coach, John Wooden, counsels:
“You have to apply yourself each day to become a little better. By applying yourself to the task of becoming a little better each and every day over a period of time, you will become a lot better. Only then will you be able to approach being the best you can be.”
Paul shares the same principle in Ephesians 5:15-16:
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Paul tells us to be very careful about the small details of our lives. We need to examine the easy to overlook behaviors and routines that guide 90% of our lives. We need to pay attention to the small opportunities that pop up and that we often leave unexploited. We cannot be careless about the boring and seemingly insignificant details of our lives. What areas in our lives do we need to start being “very careful” with?
Be Very Careful With Your Devotional Life
How can you energize your walk with God? What can you do to find power and inspiration every morning that you spend with God? Do you miss days without connecting with God? Do you find yourself anxious to get started with your “real work” during your devotional time? Does your spiritual routine leave you at peace a
17 min