The Book I Wish I Had Read Sooner - On Habits and Small Improvements

If I could go back and tell my younger self one book to read, it would be this: everything meaningful in life is built through habits, not moments of inspiration.

We live in a world obsessed with dramatic transformation stories. But here’s what I’ve learned: the most profound changes happen through the smallest actions repeated consistently over time.

The Algorithm That Changes Everything

// What we think success looks like
const dramaticChange = () => overnight.success(); // Rarely works

// What actually works - small daily improvements
const improve = (progress) => progress * 1.01; // 37x growth in a year

// The algorithm that beats everything
const buildLife = () => {
  let progress = 0;

  while (alive) {
    progress = improve(progress);
  }

  return extraordinaryLife;
};

buildLife();

Here’s the thing about small habits that feel “pointless”:

• That 10-minute walk? Feels like nothing.
• Reading just two pages? Barely worth opening the book.
• Writing one function when you’re tired? Why even bother?
• Organizing your workspace for 5 minutes? It’ll get messy again.

These actions feel insignificant because we want immediate results. But like compound interest, small improvements multiply exponentially. The magic isn’t in any single action—it’s in proving to yourself, day after day, that you’re someone who shows up consistently.

Kaizen: Continuous Improvement

The Japanese concept of kaizen—continuous improvement through small changes—is like running a CI/CD pipeline for your life. You’re shipping small improvements, testing them in production, and iterating.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

Start Embarrassingly Small

• Want to exercise? Start with 1 push-up
• Want to read more? 1 page daily
• Want to code better? Write 10 lines
• Want to be organized? make bed()

These should feel almost silly in their simplicity. When something feels easy, you’ll actually do it. When you do it consistently, it becomes who you are. When it becomes who you are, scaling up feels natural.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” — Chinese Proverb

Your life isn’t shaped by what you do once in a while. It’s shaped by what you commit and push consistently, day after day, when nobody’s watching and it doesn’t feel like it matters.

But it does matter. More than any single deploy ever could.

Start today. Start small. Your future self is counting on your commits.