Use this Simple Idea Stolen from Silicon Valley Philosophy to Painlessly Upgrade Yourself

Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash

Upgrading yourself doesn't have to be rocket science.

Try this:

1. Figure out who you want to become: “Future You”
2. Figure out what goals/achievements separate Future You from Current You.
3. Work backward to break those goals into recurring 10–20 minute micro-activities.
4. Do those micro-activities regularly until Current You = Future You.

These micro-activities are what I call Minimum Viable Actions (MVAs): tiny actions that move you toward a goal or end-state.

If you want to become a great programmer, start writing a naïve algorithm a day. If you want to build a better physique, start with 10-minute home workouts.

Once you’ve hit your MVA, you’ve secured a win for your goal that day. You can quit after 10 minutes — but try improving a tiny bit the next time.

Start nice and easy to build the habit.

Then build upon it — improving bit by bit, day by day. Make sure your MVAs are painless. If they’re fun — even better.

This is how you learn to love the journey.

The real magic of MVAs is that they make it so that you can truly become anyone you want (with a long enough time horizon).

After all, it’s just 10 minutes a day — almost anyone can do that in any field.

Just keep showing up.