Stop Chasing Perfect. Start Iterating Better.
You're 90 days in. You've built the habit. Now what? Most people plateau here. Winners iterate. 1% better beats perfect every single time.
You’re 90 days in.
You’ve structured your non-negotiables. You’ve mapped your resistance patterns. You’ve stacked wins. You’ve trusted the timeline through the hard middle. You’ve adapted what wasn’t working.
And now you’re here. Day 90+. Momentum established. Habits locked in.
So what happens next?
Most people plateau here. They’ve done the work. They’ve seen results. And they stop improving.
They maintain. They coast. They convince themselves they’ve “arrived”.
But you haven’t arrived. You’ve just built the foundation.
And what you do in the next 90 days—how you iterate—determines whether you plateau or compound into someone unrecognisable.
The 1% Rule (And Why Most People Miss It)
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Your current system isn’t perfect. And it never will be.
The workout routine you’ve built? It could be 1% better.
The morning practice you’ve established? There’s room for optimisation.
The way you approach your work? You could improve it this week.
But most people don’t. Because most people confuse “good enough” with “as good as it gets”.
They think: “I’ve built the habit. Job done.”
Wrong.
Building the habit was the entry ticket. Iterating on that habit is the actual game.
Because here’s what 1% better actually means:
If you improve 1% each week:
1% better each week = 67% better in one year
1% worse each week = nearly back to zero in one year
If you improve 1% each day:
1% better each day = 37x better in one year
1% worse each day = basically zero in one year
The difference between someone who improves consistently and someone who maintains? By month six, they’re unrecognisable from each other.
Same starting point. Same habits. Completely different outcomes.
The only difference? One kept iterating. The other stopped at “good enough”.
Weekly vs Daily: Which One Should You Choose?
Here’s the honest answer: Most people should iterate weekly.
Why?
Because daily improvement sounds motivating, but it often leads to:
Invisible progress - You can’t see 1% daily, which kills motivation
Measurement paralysis - What does “1% better today” even mean?
Burnout pressure - Every single day becomes a test
Unsustainable intensity - You’ll flame out by month five
Weekly iteration is different:
You can actually measure what changed
You have time to test and assess
Progress is visible enough to motivate you
Sustainable for the long game
But here’s the thing: If you’re the kind of person who can handle daily iteration? If you’ve got the capacity, the discipline, the awareness to improve something every single day without burning out?
Then do it.
Because iterate, iterate, iterate. If daily works for you, if you can sustain it, if you’re getting feedback fast enough to make it worthwhile—go for it.
The baseline is weekly. The accelerated path is daily. Choose what you can actually sustain.
Most people overestimate what they can do daily and underestimate what they can do weekly over six months. But if you’re built different, prove it.
How SUSTAIN Got You Here (And Where Iteration Takes You Next)
Let’s quickly map where you’ve been and why iteration is the next critical step:
S - Structure Your Non-Negotiables
You built the system. You stopped relying on motivation. You created the foundation.
U - Understand Your Resistance
You mapped the patterns. You knew what was coming. You stopped being surprised when it got hard.
S - Stack Small Wins
You built evidence. You proved to yourself you’re different now. You created momentum.
T - Trust the Timeline
You didn’t quit when results weren’t instant. You kept going through the messy middle.
A - Adapt Your Approach
You adjusted what wasn’t working without abandoning the system. You fine-tuned based on data.
And now: I - Iterate and Improve
This is where most people stop. They’ve built something that works. They’ve seen results. They think they’re done.
But iteration is where transformation compounds into mastery.
Because you’re not just maintaining the system anymore. You’re actively making it better. Every single week (or every single day if you’re pushing harder).
That 5AM wake-up? What if you optimised your evening routine so it felt easier?
That workout programme? What if you tracked one more variable and found a weakness?
That side project? What if you cut one thing that’s wasting time and doubled down on what’s working?
You’ve built the machine. Now you’re upgrading it.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate (Pun Intended)
You know what separates the people who transform their lives from the people who just have a good few months?
Iteration.
Not one big change. Not waiting for the next breakthrough. Not hoping things magically improve.
Relentless, incremental, never-ending iteration.
Let me say it again in case you missed it:
Iteration.
And again, because this is the part most people ignore:
Iteration.
One more time, because I need you to actually hear this:
Iteration.
Still with me? Good.
Because here’s what iteration actually looks like in practice:
Week 13 (of SUSTAIN): “My morning routine works, but I waste 15 minutes scrolling. What if I left my phone in another room?”
Week 14: “That worked. Now what if I prep my workout clothes the night before to save decision energy?”
Week 15: “My workout is consistent, but am I actually progressively overloading? Let me track weight increases weekly.”
Week 16: “I’m hitting my goals, but I’m exhausted by Friday. What if I structured rest better?”
That’s 4 weeks. Four 1% improvements. None of them revolutionary. All of them compounding.
And the person who does this for six months? For twelve months?
They don’t just get better. They become a different category of person entirely.
More Reps = Faster Mastery (Stop Waiting, Start Doing)
Here’s the part nobody wants to hear:
You’re not doing enough reps.
You’ve built the habit. You’re showing up. But you’re not iterating fast enough.
You’re doing the same workout every week. Same intensity. Same exercises. Same everything.
You’re running the same morning routine. Same structure. Same activities. Same results.
You’re working on your side project the same way. Same pace. Same methods. Same output.
And then you wonder why progress slowed down.
Let me ask you something: How much faster could you get to where you want to be if you did more reps?
Not just more of the same. More iterations of better.
Imagine:
Testing two variations of your routine each week instead of one
Running three experiments on your approach instead of assuming it’s optimal
Tracking five new metrics instead of zero
Making ten small improvements instead of waiting for one big breakthrough
How much faster would you improve?
The people who lap everyone who started before them aren’t doing something completely different. They’re doing more iterations. More experiments. More optimisation cycles.
While you’re doing one version of the thing, they’ve tested five.
While you’re maintaining what works, they’ve improved it three times.
While you’re waiting for perfect conditions, they’ve done 20 imperfect reps and learnt more than you learnt in six months.
More reps = faster feedback = better iteration = compounding mastery.
The Questions You Should Be Asking Every Week
If you want to actually iterate (instead of just maintaining), ask these questions every single week:
1. What’s working? Why?
Don’t just notice success. Understand the mechanism. Double down on it.
2. What’s not working? Why?
Don’t ignore friction. Diagnose it. Fix it. Move on.
3. What’s one thing I could improve by 1% this week?
Just one. Not ten. One small optimisation that compounds.
4. What would happen if I did 2x the reps this week?
Where could you increase volume, frequency, or intensity to accelerate learning?
5. What am I doing out of habit that I should question?
Routines calcify. Question them. Some need to stay. Some need to evolve.
6. If I could only keep three things from my current system, what would they be?
Identify the 20% producing 80% of results. Optimise those. Cut or minimise the rest.
7. What’s the smallest change that would make the biggest difference?
Look for leverage points. Small hinge, big door.
Answer these weekly. Implement one change. Measure. Repeat.
That’s iteration.
(And if you can handle it? Ask these daily. Test faster. Learn faster. Compound faster. Just don’t burn out trying to be superhuman.)
Perfect Is The Enemy Of Better (And Better Wins Every Time)
Here’s what kills most people’s progress after 90 days:
They start chasing perfect.
They’ve built something good. And now they want to make it perfect before they move forward.
So they stop iterating. They start theorising.
They research the “optimal” routine. They wait for the “perfect” system. They plan the “ideal” approach.
And while they’re planning, the person who kept iterating just lapped them.
Because perfect doesn’t exist. Better always does.
You don’t need the perfect morning routine. You need a routine that’s 1% better than last week’s.
You don’t need the perfect workout programme. You need to add 2.5kg to the bar this week.
You don’t need the perfect business strategy. You need to test one new thing and learn from it.
Stop optimising for perfect. Start optimising for better.
Better is achievable. Better is measurable. Better compounds.
Perfect is a fantasy that keeps you stuck.
What Happens When You Actually Iterate For Six Months
Let’s do the maths.
You’re at Day 90. You’ve built momentum. You’ve established the foundation.
Now imagine you improve 1% each week for the next six months (26 weeks):
Month 4: 1.04x better (barely noticeable)
Month 5: 1.09x better (starting to compound)
Month 6: 1.14x better (people notice something’s different)
Month 7: 1.19x better (you don’t recognise past you)
Month 8: 1.24x better (past you couldn’t keep up with current you)
Month 9: 1.30x better (30% improvement from where you started iterating)
By month nine, you’re not just better. You’re in a different category.
And the person who stopped at “good enough” at Day 90? They’re exactly where they were. Maybe a bit worse.
Same starting foundation. Completely different outcomes.
Because one person kept iterating. The other stopped at good enough.
Which one are you going to be?
Your Move: Iterate This Week
You’re 90+ days in. You’ve done the hard work of building the foundation.
Now it’s time to stop maintaining and start iterating.
Here’s what that looks like:
This week, answer these three questions:
What’s one thing in my system I could improve by 1%?
Where could I increase reps to learn faster?
What am I doing out of habit that I should question?
Then implement ONE change. Just one.
Not ten. Not a complete overhaul. One small iteration.
Measure it. Assess it. Keep it or drop it.
Then next week, do it again.
And again.
And again.
Because iteration isn’t a one-time event. It’s the system.
It’s how you go from “I’ve built good habits” to “I’m unrecognisable from who I was six months ago”.
It’s how you lap everyone who started before you.
It’s how transformation compounds into mastery.
The Choice (Same As Always)
You can stop here. You’ve built something good. You’ve made progress. You could maintain this and still be better than most people.
Or you can keep going.
You can iterate. You can optimise. You can question. You can test. You can improve 1% every single week (or every single day if you’re built for it) until you’re someone completely different.
The plateau isn’t inevitable. It’s a choice.
Most people choose maintenance. They hit Day 90 and coast.
But you’re not most people. You didn’t get this far by being most people.
So here’s the question:
How much better could you be in six months if you kept iterating?
Not theoretically. Actually.
If you improved 1% every single week. If you increased reps. If you optimised relentlessly.
How much further could you go?
The answer is: a hell of a lot further than you think.
But you won’t know unless you iterate.
Stop chasing perfect. Start iterating better.
One percent this week. One percent next week. One percent every week after that.
(And if you can handle daily? Do that. Iterate, iterate, iterate.)
That’s how you compound transformation into mastery.
Now go iterate.
Stop waiting. Start living.
— Mick
P.S. You’ve structured it. You’ve sustained it. You’ve iterated it.
Now comes the part most people never reach: Normalise the New You.
Next week, the final letter of SUSTAIN. N.
Because transformation isn’t permanent until it becomes normal. Until it’s not “something you do” — it’s who you are.
Until your old self feels like a stranger. Until your new habits feel like breathing. Until going back isn’t even an option your brain considers anymore.
That’s normalisation. And it’s the difference between a good six months and a completely different life.
Don’t stop at iteration. Lock it in.
Next week.
P.P.S Has anyone counted how many times ‘iterate’ has been said? 😅 Should I… Just playing!