The 1% rule
Plus, my personal list of tiny improvements for 2026.
Late last year I was on a sales call with a founder I’ve dreamed of working with ever since I left my job 6 and a half years ago. As we made the initial obligatory small talk, my brain was gearing up for the Big Talk: stating my rates.
When the time in the conversation came I shared my monthly retainer. As I stepped out onto the pricing precipice, every instinct in my blood-boiling-body urged me to fill the awkward silence with a justification or a preemptive devaluing of my worth.
“If it’s out of your budget we can look at structuring it more cost effectively”, I’d normally rush, thus shooting myself in the foot and limping towards an agreement with the same set of expectations, but with scope creep and less money.
But in this particular sales call I stopped myself.
Instead of rattling off the standard line, I noticed my knee jerk reaction to lower the discomfort at any cost. I took a breath in. Pinched my wrist. Bit my tongue. Held my gaze. My founder-idol then ended the eternal nanosecond of suspense by responding “sounds great, let’s move forward”.
I exhaled.
10 minutes later they bounced from our call and I kept the video running to stare directly at my pixelated face. How many times had I felt the need to justify my rates thus undercutting my value? How much more could I have earned over the years if I was able to tolerate a measly pause? What Everest-sized results might I have achieved if I made a 1% change and bit my tongue instead?
How much further along would we all by focusing tiny decisions, small breaths and the micro adjustments that are upstream to everything else?
Probably further along than we realise. Probably more than we’ll ever know.
My 1%-ers for 2026
Taking sales calls standing up (shoutout to my new standup desk) so I can move freely, strengthen my posture, have better energy and improve my vibes
Filming videos to improve my upwards inflection and reduce the number of times I, like, say “like” in a sentence…?
Putting anonymised transcripts of mentoring calls into Chat and asking for feedback on how to improve for next time
Asking everyone I meet if there’s someone in their network I should know, and visa versa
Connecting with one non-fiction book editor on LinkedIn per week
Paying for 1 hour calls with experts in areas I personally want to improve: group facilitation, community building and Tiktok growth
Getting dressed and putting makeup on every morning
Posting daily, ghosting immediately
Walking around the block and blasting Hans Zimmer every time I feel stressed that something won’t work or sell
Keeping a list of peculiar, prickly, slippery, itchy, cantankerous words to inject into my writing so that it pops
Throwing my phone out the window for the first hour of every day so I can protect my brain for creative work
Batching all bitsy, non-urgent, distracting, annoying but necessary admin in a one hour block on Friday afternoons
Attempting to get back into exercise post-ACL rupture by wonkily running a single lap around our local oval each day at 11am
Having a shower if I can’t think of anything interesting to write
Committing to 3 product CTAs a week in my content because if I don’t talk about my offers then no one will buy them and what’s the point of creating wonderful products and services I’m proud of if nobody knows about them (something I constantly remind myself and my mentoring clients)
Practicing my artful response to “what do you do?” in front of the mirror before I head to a networking event or dinner with my extended family
Building my next income stream in public with low-lift, low-friction videos that I’m thinking of as a personal journal
Investing into my shares every single fortnight (even the smallest amount) not just when cash flow allows for big injections
Saying no daily
Saving screenshots of every piece of positive feedback from mentoring clients or readers and looking at it whenever I feel like I’ve plateaued
Keeping a photo of Anna circa 2022 - a time in my life characterised by feeling stuck, sad and confused - next to my desk as a reminder of how far up the mountain I’ve already trekked
Taking a breath, pinching my wrist, biting my tongue, holding my gaze
This week I’m sharing more detail around a few of my 1% rules, including my approach to creating video content (and why I’m focusing on video this year), why I’m engaging experts for one hour strategy calls, and my choice to build my next income stream in public (eek!).
🫶🏼 Join cohort #2 of my new group program - The Portfolio Career Build Method
I’m running a 6 week program for early stage portfolio careerists (0-3 years) to help them build the strategy, structure, community and confidence needed to start generating consistent opportunities and income.
The program officially launches July 2026 but I’m running beta cohort #2 in Feb. There’s a limited number of spots (first in, best dressed) offered at a discounted founding member price.
If you’d like to learn more please fill out the form below. I’ll be in touch on Monday with more info.
Anna x
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Anna, can you say more about this one: “Posting daily, ghosting immediately”? Posting what where, and ghosting what, when?
1% decisions should be the new goals. I'm exhausted by goal culture 😭😂