Most people overestimate what they can do in a week
and underestimate what they can do in a year.
That’s where the 1% rule comes in, and why a growth mindset is the secret weapon behind every high performer, athlete, and leader I’ve ever met.
When I wrote Kick-Ass, I wanted ambitious women to see one truth: you don’t need to make giant leaps to change your life, just consistent, deliberate steps forward.
From fixed to fierce
We’re all born with a growth mindset. But somewhere along the way, through criticism, setbacks, or fear, that mindset hardens into something smaller.
We start playing safe.
We stop believing we can grow.
That’s the moment the black-belt mindset kicks in.
Because a true champion doesn’t see a failed punch as failure, it’s feedback.
You adapt, adjust, and strike again.
Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford and the leading expert on mindset, defines a growth mindset as the belief that your skills and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning.
It’s not just motivational fluff. It’s neuroscience-backed strategy.
A fixed mindset says: “I can’t do this.”
A growth mindset says: “I can’t do this yet.”
That one word changes everything.
The power of yet
When you add “yet,” you give yourself permission to be in progress.
You’re no longer failing, you’re training.
And if there’s one thing years of karate have taught me, it’s that training is everything.
In my early days, I wasn’t a world champion.
I was just a shy girl who got bullied and wanted to learn to stand her ground.
Every punch, every mistake, every bruise was one small step toward strength.
That’s what the 1% rule is about, not perfection, but progress.
If you grow just 1% a day, you don’t end up 60% better in 60 days.
You grow by 81.7%, thanks to compound growth.
That’s the math of mastery.
How to train your growth mindset
Here’s how to start building your own black-belt mindset in business and life:
- See challenges as opportunities
Don’t avoid discomfort. Pressure builds strength — on the mat and in the boardroom. - Reflect daily
Ask: What went wrong today? What can I learn from it? - Stop seeking approval
Focus on progress, not praise. The world doesn’t owe you validation — you owe yourself commitment. - Celebrate others’ success
It’s not a competition. When someone wins, they prove what’s possible. - Reward actions, not traits
Don’t say “I’m smart.” Say “I worked hard.” That reinforces growth over ego. - Use the power of “yet”
You’re not there yet. But you’re getting there — faster than you think.
These sound simple, but they require discipline.
Like training kata in karate, the magic isn’t in the single move. It’s in the repetition.
The 1% rule in action
In corporate life, most people plateau because they wait for the perfect moment: the promotion, the recognition, the green light.
But champions don’t wait.
They build.
Every meeting, every sales call, every presentation, it’s a chance to practice better.
To tweak your pitch.
To grow your confidence.
To strengthen your inner muscles before the world notices your outer results.
The Kick-Ass philosophy is simple:
Stop waiting for your mindset to shift, train it like a muscle.
Your growth doesn’t happen in a single leap; it happens in tiny, invisible choices you make every day.
From karate to corporate
Karate taught me that the battle is always won in the mind first.
Before you step onto the mat (or into the meeting) you’ve already decided whether you’ll fight or fold.
When I train leaders today, I remind them:
Your mindset is your strongest weapon.
You don’t need to change who you are.
You just need to stop believing you can’t.
Because once you embrace the 1% rule, your growth compounds: in business, in confidence, and in life.
And when people ask how you did it?
You’ll smile and say, “One small step at a time.”
