1-1-1: The power of marginal gains, the math of the 1% rule, and why systems beat goals

Happy Monday,

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the 1-1-1 Newsletter. My goal is simple: to provide you with one habit, one lesson, and one truth every Monday morning to help you build an institutional-grade life.

Here is this week’s breakdown:

1. The Habit: The "Pre-Flight" Checklist

Self-made millionaires do not rely on their memory or their mood to perform. They rely on Systems.

The Habit: Create a 5-item checklist for your most important daily task. Whether you are coding, writing, or managing a team, identify the five mechanical steps required for a "Perfect Start." Do not start the work until all five boxes are checked. This removes "Decision Fatigue" and ensures that your baseline performance is always elite.

2. The Lesson: The Math of the 1%

In my trading laboratory, a 1% shift in execution is the difference between a professional career and a hobby.

The Lesson: If you improve your process by just 1% every day, you don't just get "better"—you compound. By the end of the year, you are 37 times more effective than when you started. On the Nasdaq, we don't look for 100% wins; we look for the 1% edges that the "99%" are too undisciplined to follow. Success is a mathematical inevitability if you stay in the game long enough for the compounding to take effect.

3. The Truth: Systems Over Goals

The third pillar of the Selfmade Habits research is the most sobering.

The Truth: You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems. A goal is a singular event in the future; a system is the 1% improvement you make in the present. If you want to join the 1%, stop obsessing over the destination and start perfecting the machine.

To the 1%,

Indy Karveli Author of Selfmade Habits