By Dan Remon · Evidence checked October 2026
Most self-improvement lists fail on Monday morning. They hand you 20 good ideas at once, and by Friday you’re running none of them.
You’ve already built something: a company, a team, a career that runs on your decisions. You don’t need more ideas. You need a short list of moves that fit inside a full week, and a way to keep them running when the week goes sideways.
These are the 10 that hold up. Each one comes with what the evidence says, where the evidence is solid, and one thing to do this week.
How to improve your life, one move at a time
To improve your life, pick small moves you can run this week, install them one at a time and keep each one until it runs without thinking. The 10 that hold up: protect your sleep, train at least twice a week, set one clear goal, put the work in your calendar, set one boundary on your time, practise mindfulness, build your support network, learn the skill your next stage needs, give something back and review the week every Friday. Start with the move that fixes your biggest leak. A small move held for months will do more for you than a big plan dropped after a fortnight.
10 power moves for a better life
The order matters. The body comes first, because every other move runs on sleep and energy. Then direction, then people, then the weekly review that keeps the rest in place.
1. Protect 7 hours of sleep
The CDC recommends 7 or more hours of sleep a day for adults aged 18 to 60.1 You know the number. Sleep is still the buffer that absorbs every late call and early flight. It’s first on this list because a well-planned day on 5 hours of sleep rarely survives the afternoon.
This week: pick a wake time you can hold all 7 days. Count back 7 hours plus the time it takes you to fall asleep, and that’s lights out. Charge your phone outside the bedroom.
2. Train at least twice a week
The World Health Organization’s 2020 guidelines say adults should do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week.2
I’d rather see 2 sessions held every week, travel included, than 5 planned and 1 done. That’s the minimum effective dose: the smallest amount of training that keeps moving the number. I’ve written more about training for a working week in the corporate athlete.
This week: book 2 strength sessions into your calendar like meetings, and write down a short version you can do in a hotel room.
3. Set one clear goal for the next 90 days
A list of 8 goals is a wish list. One goal, written with a number and a date, gives every other decision in your week something to line up behind. Pick the area where a change would make the biggest difference, whether that’s your health, the business, money or the people closest to you, and set one goal there.
I’ve set out the full method in goal setting that survives the quarter.
This week: write the goal in one sentence with a number and a date 90 days out, then list the 1 to 3 weekly actions that would cause it.
4. Put the work in your calendar
A goal without a time slot competes with every email, and the email usually wins. Every action from move 3 needs a day, a time and a place. A 2006 meta-analysis pooled 94 independent tests of plans that set out when, where and how people would act. Those plans had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals (d = 0.65).3
The Weekly Compass is how I install this with clients: 30 minutes at the start of the week to plan it and block the work that matters most before other people fill it. The rest of the weekly rhythm is in a productivity system that survives a bad week.
This week: on Monday, block 2 focused sessions for your goal and treat them like a meeting with your most important client.
5. Set one boundary on your time
Boundaries protect your time, your energy and the people at home. You probably have rules for how your team spends its time and none for your own. A boundary only works when it’s specific enough to check and the people it affects know about it: no email after 20:00, no meetings before 10:00, one evening a week with your phone off.
If switching off after work is the hard part, stress management for executives covers recovery in more depth.
This week: choose one boundary, tell your team and your family what it is, and hold it for 7 days.
6. Practise mindfulness for a few minutes a day
The evidence here is real and modest. A 2014 meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine pooled 47 randomised trials with 3,515 participants. Mindfulness meditation programs showed moderate evidence of improved anxiety, depression and pain, and low evidence of improved stress. Evidence of an effect on positive mood, attention, sleep or weight was low or insufficient, and there was no evidence that meditation beat active treatments such as exercise.4
So I use it for what it does: taking the edge off stress. It won’t replace sleep or training. The trials tested structured programs, with effects reported at 8 weeks and again at 3 to 6 months, so a few minutes a day is where you start, not the full dose.
This week: before your first meeting each day, sit for a few minutes with your attention on your breathing. Attach it to something you already do, like your first coffee.
7. Build your support network and find a mentor
A 2010 meta-analysis of 148 studies and 308,849 participants found that people with stronger social relationships had a 50% greater likelihood of survival over the studies’ follow-up periods.5 These are observational studies, so they show an association rather than proof that friends add years. The authors put the size of the link alongside well-established risk factors for mortality.
When the business takes the evenings, friendships run on goodwill, and goodwill runs out. Add people on purpose: a mentor who has built what you’re building, or a peer a few years ahead whose judgement you trust. A good mentor gives you the feedback your team won’t.
This week: write down 3 people who make you better and book time with one of them. Then ask one person you’d like as a mentor for 30 minutes.
8. Learn the skill your next stage needs
Pick the skill your business needs from you next over the one that’s most fun to learn. Usually it’s a people skill: delegating, giving direct feedback, running a shorter meeting or saying clearly what you want. Communication sits under most of them, at work and at home.
This week: name the skill, find one good teacher (a book, a course or a person who does it well) and book 2 hours of practice into your calendar.
9. Give something back
A 2018 meta-analysis of 27 experimental studies with 4,045 participants found that performing acts of kindness had a small-to-medium effect on the wellbeing of the person doing them (δ = 0.28), with no sign of publication bias.6 Helping is good for the helper as well as the person helped.
For a founder, the most useful thing to give is often time and know-how: mentor someone earlier in their career, teach your team what you know, or put your skills behind a cause as well as your money.
This week: do one deliberate act of help that costs you an hour, and put it in the calendar like any other meeting.
10. Review the week every Friday
A 2016 meta-analysis of 138 studies that randomly assigned 19,951 participants found that getting people to monitor their progress helped them reach their goals (d = 0.40). The effect was larger when progress was reported or made public, and when it was physically recorded.7
The Friday Debrief is how I run it: 15 minutes, written down, covering what moved, what stalled, what knocked the plan off course and the one change for next week. A missed day is information. You use a mistake to fix the plan, then move on.
This week: block 15 minutes on Friday afternoon and write the answers in the same place every week.
The 1% Compound: why small moves add up
None of these moves looks impressive on its own. The 1% Compound is the tool that shows why they still matter.
The arithmetic is simple. Multiply 1.01 by itself 365 times and you get 37.78. Multiply 0.99 by itself 365 times and you get 0.03. A small gain held every day for a year finishes nearly 38 times higher. A small loss repeated every day finishes close to zero.
Nobody improves at a steady 1% a day, and your sleep won’t get 38 times better. The numbers show direction. Small moves held daily add up, and so does small neglect. Neither feels like much on the day it happens.
Here’s how I use it with the 10 moves:
- One move per cycle. Each 28-day cycle installs one move, the Monthly Lever. One move held for 28 days becomes the default, and the next one stacks on top of it. It’s how The Quest runs.
- Set the floor. Every move needs a version you can keep on your worst day: 15 minutes of training in a hotel room, lights out on time after a late dinner. The floor is what compounds.
- Track it daily. The Stealth Tracker is a 60-second check-in that records whether the move happened. One missed day barely moves the curve. A missed week that becomes normal is the 0.99 side of the arithmetic.
- Start where the leak is biggest. If you’re sleeping 6 hours, start with move 1. If your week has no plan, start with move 4. The 1% Scorecard shows which area is leaking most.
Why motivation isn’t on the list
Most lists like this include stay motivated, think positive and embrace change. I’ve left them off on purpose. You can’t put a feeling in a calendar. Motivation turns up when the week is easy and leaves when it’s hard. The 10 moves run either way, and the feeling tends to follow the results.
I’ve set out why standards hold when motivation doesn’t in mindset mastery for leaders. Calculated risk is off the list for a different reason. You take risks in the business every week. What makes a risk a good one is the base under it: sleep, a plan and people to test the idea on.
How to start
Start with the data, then pick the move.
- The 1% Scorecard. Free, 8 questions, 2 minutes. You get a score out of 100 and the one thing to install first, which tells you which of the 10 moves to run this month.
- The Quest. My performance membership: one lever per 28-day cycle, a weekly rhythm to run it and other founders running it alongside you. Cancel anytime.
Stop starting over. Start compounding.
Related reading: Does visualisation work? What the research says, how to run a personal annual review and 10 signs you have a limited mindset, and how to change it.
FAQ
What are the best ways to improve your life?
Start with the basics everything else runs on: 7 or more hours of sleep, training at least twice a week and one clear goal with time blocked for it. Then add people, learning, giving and a weekly review. Install them one at a time so each one holds.
Where do I start if I want to change my life?
Start with the area that’s leaking most. If you’re sleeping under 7 hours, start there, because every other move runs on it. The free 1% Scorecard shows which area to start with.
What is the 1% rule for self-improvement?
It’s the idea that small daily gains add up. 1.01 multiplied by itself 365 times is 37.78, and 0.99 multiplied by itself 365 times is 0.03. I call it The 1% Compound and use it to choose one small move and hold it long enough to count.
How long does it take to see a change?
A new move takes weeks of repeats to run without thinking, which is why I install one per 28-day cycle and review it every Friday.
Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). About sleep. Last reviewed 20 November 2023. cdc.gov/sleep/about
- Bull, F. C., Al-Ansari, S. S., Biddle, S., Borodulin, K., Buman, M. P., Cardon, G., et al. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(24), 1451-1462. doi.org/
10.1136/ bjsports-2020-102955 - Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119. doi.org/
10.1016/ S0065-2601(06)38002-1 - Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E. M. S., Gould, N. F., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357-368. doi.org/
10.1001/ jamainternmed.2013.13018 - Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010). Social relationships and mortality risk: A meta-analytic review. PLoS Medicine, 7(7), e1000316. doi.org/
10.1371/ journal.pmed.1000316 - Curry, O. S., Rowland, L. A., Van Lissa, C. J., Zlotowitz, S., McAlaney, J., & Whitehouse, H. (2018). Happy to help? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of performing acts of kindness on the well-being of the actor. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 320-329. doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.02.014
- Harkin, B., Webb, T. L., Chang, B. P. I., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y., & Sheeran, P. (2016). Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 198-229. doi.org/10.1037/bul0000025
This article is general information, not medical advice.
