Before you begin, consider this: scientists differ on how long the earth will be able to support human life as it is today. However, most agree that our current resources should last at least for about another fifty years* - i.e. possibly enough for our lifetimes. Does this mean that we won't bring about change, when we can?
Year: 2010. No British cyclist had ever won the Tour de France since its inception in 1903. Dave Brailsford - the new General Manager and Performance Director for Great Britain's professional cycling team (Team Sky) - was looking to do just that.
Brailford's approach was simple. He believed in a concept that he referred to as the aggregation of marginal gains. Put simply, it is the 1 percent margin for improvement in everything we do. His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just 1 percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement. Brailsford thought that if they could successfully execute this strategy, then Team Sky would be in a position to win the Tour de France in five years time. They won it within three.
In 2012, Team Sky rider Sir Bradley Wiggins became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. That same year, Brailsford coached the British cycling team at the 2012 Olympic Games and dominated the competition by winning 70 percent of the gold medals available. In 2013, Team Sky repeated their feat by winning the Tour de France again, this time with rider Chris Froome.
David Brailsford's approach teaches the value of making better decisions on a daily basis. Almost all of our everyday habits is the result of many small decisions over time. Yet, we tend to overlook this when we want to make a change. We often persuade ourselves that change is only meaningful if there is some immediate visible outcome associated with it. Improving by just 1 percent in our efforts to be sustainable isn't notable or noticeable, but it's just as important in the long run.
Most people envisage earth-shattering results and game-changing outcomes as a single decisive moment in time. The truth is, most of the significant things in life aren't stand-alone events, but rather the sum of all the moments when we chose to do things 1 percent better (or 1 percent worse).
Aggregating these marginal gains makes a difference. As time goes on, these small improvements or declines compound and you suddenly find a very big gap between where you are and where you used to be. You could get to know more about how you can bring about that 1% difference in your life from our article on sustainable practices here
http://goo.gl/d075cP.
Being sustainable is a way of life. It has to be nurtured and cultivated over time. The results may not be immediately visible, neither will there be far reaching consequences of your first few actions. But aggregated bit by bit over the next fifty years, it can spawn an entire lifetime for the next generation. Are we not willing to give tomorrow just 1% of our today?
** adapted from an article by James Clear
