The Healthiest Version of You, 1% at a Time

Dr. Christian Carroll DC
11 hours ago
5 min read

#newyear #resolutions #functionalmedicine #massagetherapy #1%better #upgradeyourhealth #nutrition #structuralnutritionalemotional

Every January, millions of people decide that this is going to be the year everything changes, and then by about January 17th (Google it, that’s the "National Quitters Day”), the gym is empty again and the resolutions are sitting in a notebook under a pile of unopened mail.

Why? Because humans don’t change through restrictive resolutions, we change through tiny upgrades, repeated daily.

James Altucher calls it the daily practice: tiny daily habits in key areas that compound into momentum, energy, creativity, success, and health. He says it transforms you every 6 months.

At Triune Wellness, we’ve translated this into our own 3-in-1 holistic philosophy that focuses on the three areas that, if improved even 1% at a time, will transform your health more powerfully than resolutions: Structural (Body), Nutritional, Emotional (Stress).

Instead of trying to reinvent yourself in January, aim to get a little better in these areas.

The Math of 1% Healthier Each Day (Why the Year Matters More Than the Month)

People tend to get it backwards and overestimate what they can do in a month (i.e. resolutions) while wildly underestimating what they can do in a year.

Let me show you the numbers:

If you got just 1% better each month, by the end of the year you wouldn’t be 12% better, (with compounding you’d be about 13% better)
If you got 1% better each week, over 52 weeks that’s about a 68% improvement.
If you managed 1% better every day (no one’s perfect, but go with it), the math works out to 3,678% better by the end of the year!

That daily 1% is extreme as a real-life goal, but it proves the point:

Tiny improvements, repeated and compounded, facilitate big changes.

Even a 0.1% daily improvement turns into roughly 44% better over a year. So if you feel like “nothing big is changing” after a week or a month, remember: The magic is in the year, not the week. That’s the spirit of the Triune approach this year: small, steady upgrades in your Body, Nutrition, and Stress, over and over again.

So now that we have some numbers, let’s give some PRACTICAL 1% better ideas in each of the 3 categories...

1. Structural (Physical Body)

Your body is not asking for two-hour workouts and a new personality, it’s asking for 1% better for your body at this time.

So what could 1% look like? Think “micro-wins” like these:

Take a 10-minute walk. If there's resistance to that, that's ok, try a 2 minute walk.
Double bonus if it’s outside. Triple bonus if you leave your phone behind
Follow us on Instagram and steal our stretches and mobility ideas
Stretch, or use a foam roller, lacrosse ball, or massage gun while watching Netflix (multitasking!)
Schedule a monthly or quarterly massage (think of it as muscular maintenance)
Sign up for a 5K, a yoga class, or put on some music and dance like nobody is watching - essentially find ways to move your body that you enjoy!
Join a gym. Or set up an area at home. Or don’t. Do 1 push up, or 10 air squats... just try and move your body every day in some way
Get adjusted consistently so your spine and nervous system is wired for healing
If you want an exercise plan, literally ask ChatGPT to write one. AI doesn’t care how long it’s been since you worked out. It can customize it to your age, joint aches and pains, and your experience level

At the end of the day improving by 1% is asking “what can I do today to improve my physical body and then just be listen to your intuition. Then do that. Be the person that does.

The goal: 1% better movement each day. Turns into 3600% better by December.

For the month of January 2026, take 10% OFF all Functional Blood Work, including advanced panels and follow up bloodwork.

2. Nutritional

“Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine thy food” ~Hippocrates, founder of modern medicine.

Nutrition is about fueling your body to function optimally. Here are a few ideas for 1% improvement with nutrition:

Get your Annual Functional Bloodwork: a functional bloodwork review helps drive your dietary and supplement decisions so they are customized for you specifically, and not coming from TikTok trends; this means choosing supplements based on your actual biomarkers, not what “collagen” went viral last week
Drink more water💧Hydration is important!
Decrease high-processed snacks from the house so you don’t have to arm-wrestle any sugar cravings at night (Increase your protein intake over carbohydrates and see how your energy levels and cravings change)
Try intermittent fasting; or if that doesn’t fit you, try a high-protein breakfast instead.
Bring leftovers for lunch instead of grabbing something fast and fried that'll leave you feeling bloated
Reduce alcohol consumption and experiment with kombucha or alternatives
Eat a growing food with every meal (fruit, veg, or generally an edible plant of some sort)
If your gut has been complaining for a while, consider a stool test or food sensitivity test

I think you get the point….Basically, each day, ask yourself “what can I do to improve my nutrition by 1%”?

3. Emotional (Stress)

After 11 years in practice, here’s the truth: Stress itself isn’t “good” or “bad”, it’s simply information. The key question is: How intense is it?

Once your internal stress meter hits 6 out of 10 or higher, your body flips into fight-or-flight mode; tightening muscles, impacting organs, disrupting hormones, sleep, digestion, and mood...

When you are in fight or flight mode too often or for too long: Your health takes a hit.

At Triune, we recommend combating stress to keep it below 6 out of 10 with 1% stress-reducing habits.

Here are some ideas to work on being 1% better managing stress:

Spend more time with people who energize you and less with people who drain you; find a positive community: a hobby group, team, book club, sport, church or spiritual circle, or any group that lifts you up
Call one old friend each month just to catch up
Plan date nights or meaningful connection time with someone you love
Use the FAST technique from N.E.T.: Put one hand on your forehead + one hand on your heart → focus on ONE stressor and then breathe in deeply, and then breathe out, exhaling the stressor. Keep going until that 6+/10 becomes a <4/10 level. Ideally a zero.
Write down things you’re grateful for. Gratitude is candy for the nervous-system.
Learn something new, try something new. The brain loves challenge and novelty.
Pray, meditate, or simply sit in silence for a minute and watch your thoughts go by.
Schedule talk therapy for support through challenging times, or just because it's helpful, from a completely neutral person

If stress can climb, it can also drop. Make lowering it a priority in an effort to improve overall health and wellness.

Your 2026 Daily Practice

In Closing, The Dalai Lama once reflected on the paradox of human behavior:

A person will often sacrifice their health to make money… and then later sacrifice their money to recover their health.

This year, let’s flip that around. If you get even a just .1% better in Body, Nutrition, and Stress, week after week after week… You won’t just feel better by next December. You’ll be HEALTHIER.