The 1% rule: How 14 minutes a day can transform your mental health

Here is my invitation for you: Give 1 per cent of your day to your mental health – 14 minutes minimum. Walk against the treadmill of life daily. Take radical responsibility for your own mental health. Seek help if you fall off the treadmill.

Because you deserve a life filled with good health, clarity and presence. And it all starts with just 1 per cent of your day.

However, I want to make one thing crystal clear: I am far from perfect with any of this. Some days I nail it. I wake up early, breathe and meditate, exercise, eat healthy, recover well and connect deeply with those I love. But then there are days, or weeks, where I barely tick anything off. I get caught up with work, travel, life – and the routine falls apart.

But the most important thing I have learned is that’s okay. Because it is a practice, a flow, a routine with yourself that you can always come back to when you fall off. Not with guilt, but with compassion.

Shifting from victim to victor

For a long time, I didn’t realise how much power I was handing over by always blaming other people and circumstances, and even myself in unhealthy ways.

But a huge shift happened when I started to understand that I could take ownership. Not of everything that happened to me, but of how I responded to everything that happened to me. I began to rebuild my purpose in life.

Taking responsibility isn’t about blame, it’s about having a choice. And with that choice, I slowly built a life guided by things that truly mattered to me: gratitude, empathy, mindfulness, kindness.

They aren’t just nice concepts; they are values that can guide our actions. And when practised with intention, these values lay the foundation for good mental health.

When you combine them with consistent, intentional, science-backed habits, you’re no longer just surviving in this world – you’re taking action to walk against the treadmill of life.

Focus on progress, not perfection

You may be feeling overwhelmed after reading about different habits for good mental health: breathwork, meditation, exercise, nature, recovery, gratitude, communication. You’re probably thinking, “How am I supposed to fit all of that in?”

The truth is, you don’t have to fit it all in. Not all of the time. It isn’t about being perfect. It’s about becoming aware. It’s about creating a system that is supportive of your lifestyle, not someone else’s.

A simple concept that can make all these habits feel more achievable more often is habit stacking, an idea made famous by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits. Instead of seeing each habit as a chore to just tick off, you can combine them into daily rituals.

Another key lesson I want to highlight is this: forming healthy habits takes time. Most people who set goals or a New Year’s resolution to start the year have failed by February. Not because they don’t care, but because they tried to take on too much, too soon. So, if you are feeling a little stressed right now, that’s okay. Take the pressure off. Start small. Build your routine slowly. And most importantly, do what works best for you.

Find what works for you

The 10 habits – breathwork, meditation, exercise and movement, time in nature, connection and communication, time spent learning, gratitude, healthy eating, stretching and recovery, sleep and self-care – are the ones I personally find beneficial. So do many of my podcast guests and community.

They have helped us grow, heal, reset and reconnect – mentally, emotionally and physically.

Your goal shouldn’t be to copy my “full potential” board; it should be to build your own. Use mine as a blueprint, a starting point. But always remember we’re all different. What feels great for me, the things that energise and ground me, might not land the same way for you. And that’s something special.

This journey of life is personal for all of us. Make it your own. Try new things. Adjust. Tweak them. Stack new healthy habits. Drop the ones that aren’t serving you.

Over time, you’ll begin to shape a routine that supports the best version of you.