This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
The 1 . 100 Photos Analogy
When it comes to your goals, you might think that quality action takes precedence over quantity, but it’s not the case. Quantity is always a better strategy because each action you take is building a new habit chain. The more consistent you are, the more progress you will make. Even when the progress is small, over time, that progress becomes massive.
Before you second guess investing time and energy into an action that will put you one tiny step closer to your goal, go ahead and perform the tiny action. You will feel 100% better, and continue building the habit chain.
Keep track of the habit chain with an x on your calendar, and you will become more enticed to keep up the habit because the x’s keep building up.
One 100 Photos
“On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film and photography students into two groups.
Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, ninety photos a B, eighty photos a C, and so on.
Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the “quality” group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one the semester, but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image.
At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that all the best photos were produced by the quantity group. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing out various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts other than unverified theories and one mediocre photo.
It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, “The best is the enemy of the good.”
Excerpt From: Atomic Habits, James Clear
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.