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- How To Become a Great Writer
Welcome to this week’s The Compelling Writer. Where I give away all the ideas that have worked for me.
Today I’m sharing an easy growth technique.
Last week I got a message about a presentation I gave a year ago.
A listener was desperate to tell me it had changed their life. Knowing I had impacted a life gave me a massive buzz. When I started public speaking 30 years ago. I was awful. So boring & irrelevant.
But now I captivate audiences. Not because I am clever but because I use the 1% rule. This rule has transformed me from dreadful to engaging.
I’m using the same rule to become a great writer.
Today I want to show you how you can use it too.
The 1% Rule
Imagine you have $1 and it gains 1% every day. How much will you have after 1 year?
Our brains think 0.01 × 365 = $3.65
But the answer is $37.
That’s a 3700% increase.
This is because compounding is a superpower. It means you gain 1% on your previous 1% gain. Creating mindblowing results.
You can use this to become a great writer. And it isn’t hard to do.
If you improve your skills by 1% every day. You’ll be 37 times better by the end of the year. Do it for 30 years and your growth will be off the scale.
Here’s how to improve by 1%:
Take a tiny idea
Post it where you can see it
Every time you write use the idea
Next week take a new idea and follow the same process
Do it every week over a long time and you’ll become a great writer.
For example, recently I learned it is more effective to put the benefit at the start of the sentence. Especially for hooks and titles,
Compare these two statements:
Writing online can make you money
Make money by writing online
The second one is more engaging because the benefit comes first. A simple but powerful trick. It’s my 1% for this week.
I have a Post-it note on my desk to remind me to use it every day. Then next week I will adopt another tip.
The 1% rule is powerful. The improvements multiply rather than add together. Ten 1% improvements isn’t 10% but 1% x 1% x 1%…
You’ll become a talented writer when lots of tiny improvements multiply. And anyone can do this.
Adopting the 1% rule means greatness is inevitable over the long term.
Most people won’t do this
I’ve coached many people over the last 30 years and the brutal truth is this.
Most people do nothing with their learning.
Ask a colleague to give you 3 specific examples of how they’ve improved from a course. 95% of them won’t be able to.
This is because learning a new idea gives a dopamine hit. A buzz kicks off in your mind when you discover something new. But this means you’ve already got the reward. So you’ve no motivation to do anything.
Guess how much dopamine you get from applying an idea.
Zero
There are no short-term benefits from the 1% rule. There are only costs. The pain of hard work.
If you want exponential growth you’ll need a few tactics to overcome this resistance. Try 2 I use:
Keep a long-term vision of greatness in mind. This fuels my action. I’m applying ideas today to become great tomorrow
Share my learning with others. Knowing I’m helping others pushes me to keep improving.
Remember you don’t need massive changes to become great. Just keep improving over a long time to reap the rewards.
What’s your 1% improvement for this week?
What I’m reading: Skip The Line (James Altucher)
because it’s inspiring me to take more action and risks.
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