The 5% Principle by Sue Courtney

The Coaching Bit

If you are finding some of your goals a little challenging to stick to then the idea behind the book by Michael Alden entitled “ 5% More – Making Small Changes To Achieve Extraordinary Results” may be helpful. It offers advice about making positive changes to your life in small increments that compound over time.

It is written mainly as a business book, but the principles can be applied to just about any aspect of your life to bring about easy and lasting change. Having achieved my water-drinking goal in January, I have now turned my attention to my fitness. In August I bought myself a ‘Fitbit’ to track my movement. It has been useful – if only to prove that some weeks I do very little exercise! So I decided to apply the 5% more principle to my walking. I took my last weekly steps total and, using a calculator, I worked out what 5% more a week would look like and how it could lead me to achieving my ultimate goal of walking 100,000 steps every week. I calculate that I will need to add about 4,000 steps a week (each week) to my total, which is not too much each day. It should take me about six weeks to reach my goal.

Then I began to wonder what else this principle could be used for. If your goal is to give up smoking then could you try smoking 5% fewer cigarettes a week? How long would it take for you to become a complete non-smoker using this method?

Want to lose weight? Try cutting calories by just 5% a week and upping your activity by 5% at the same time. It might be easier and more sustainable than a strict diet and make your goal more achievable. I have begun trialing this by cutting down on the pasta I eat by 5% each week. I am now down to just 40g each time and I haven’t noticed that I am eating less! Woohoo!

Gosport Leisure Centre

What could you achieve if you did just 5% more exercise a week?

Photo by Alan Dent

If you are doing a course of study or have children who are currently at school or college, what might giving 5% more time and effort each week to studies achieve? Could you hear your child read just 5% more each week? (Yes, OK, I am a teacher so I would suggest these.)

If you are a working parent and you want to spend more time with your family, why not begin by trying to have 5% more quality family time each week with no interruptions from mobile phones or Playstations? It would only be a matter of a few minutes each day, but it would compound over time.

Trying to save or clear debt? Could you manage to set aside 5% more each week, or spend 5% less each week and see where it led? Even 1% or £1 or 1p would give an important message to your brain that you are able to save, which will have a big impact on how you view your financial position.

These are just a few suggestions – I am sure that you can come up with many more. Some will work and some won’t and you will never know which will yield miracles until you try them.

Please let me know if this idea works for you. I would love to know if you have any more ideas for its application, so please drop me an email to tell me of your innovations on the idea.

The Styling Bit

This week I am pondering the minefield of “Age Appropriate” dressing. I’m not a huge fan of this idea, though I am sure you would never have guessed from last week’s shoe photos.

Earlier in the year, as an expert stylist, I was asked to comment about “Age Appropriate” dressing on Radio Solent’s Sasha Twining Show. It was a completely unexpected call, which obliged me to give the matter some thought and then share these thoughts on air.

So, here is my take on this issue.

What you wear should have less to do with your age and much more to do with your confidence and body shape. I advocate wearing clothes that suit your body shape – women fall into five broad shapes. You are either: an apple, a pear, a strawberry, a rhubarb or an hourglass. If you are confident and dress to flatter your current body shape and colouring, then you will look amazing in just about anything! The radio question was connected to women wearing leather trousers after a certain age. I suggested that it was really a matter of confidence and body shape. The top model, Carmen Dell’Orefice who is 84 years of age still looks amazing in leather trousers, whereas Nora Batty probably wouldn’t look as great!  I think this illustrates my point perfectly.

So wear whatever suits your body shape and colouring and makes you happy. If you feel wonderful wearing something then you will probably look good in it because you will have an air of confidence, which is very appealing.

If you would like to find out what your body shape is and which styles flatter it, then please contact me for more information.