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What is 1% Better?

A free morning email that tells you what happened in the world and gives you one small, useful thing to try.

Updated October 30, 2026

What is in a weekday edition

Every weekday edition follows the same order, so you always know where to look:

• Good Morning. Two or three sentences on what the edition covers.
• Top Story Today. The day's biggest story, explained in three short paragraphs: what happened, why it happened, and what to watch next.
• More news. One or two other stories told the same way, often science, business or a story you would not have seen elsewhere.
• Get 1% Better. The practical part: a routine, a recipe, a money move or a habit, usually with the source it comes from.
• The Market. Three business and market headlines, one line each, with a link to the reporting.
• The Other 99%. Five more stories in one line each.
• Reader poll and Fun Links. A one-tap poll and a short list of links worth a click, each labeled by type (study, chart, recipe, podcast).

For example, the edition of October 29, 2026 led with a high-speed train crash in Spain and the Federal Reserve's split vote on interest rates, then explained a Bruce Lee strength routine from 1964 that takes about 20 minutes and a chicken soup tested in a 2000 University of Nebraska lab study. You can read every past edition in the newsletter archive or open the latest issue.

What arrives on weekends

• Saturday: Editor's Picks. A lighter edition of the best ideas, reads and recipes from the week, for example "How to Spot a Liar, Jaws Log, and Tortellini Soup."
• Sunday: Deep Dive. One topic covered properly, such as "5 Tests for Longevity," "Hire Your First AI Assistant" or "20-Minute Relationship Upgrade."

Why it is called 1% Better

The name comes from kaizen, the Japanese practice of continuous, small improvement. The arithmetic behind it: improving by 1% a day, compounded for a year, gives 1.01³⁶⁵, about 37.8 times where you started. Real life does not compound that neatly, so treat the number as a picture of the idea. The point is that small changes you actually keep are worth more than big plans you drop. Our habit streak calculator shows what the research says about how long a new habit takes.

How it is made

• News is written from published reporting, and each story links to its sources so you can read more or check us. We aim to say what happened in plain language and leave the opinions out.
• Practical ideas come from research papers, books and long-form interviews. When an idea comes from a study, we name the study and say what it did and did not find. The soup item above ends with "It's a lab finding, not a cure."
• Podcast notes. The same team publishes free notes on more than 2,000 podcast episodes from shows like The Diary of a CEO, Huberman Lab and Modern Wisdom. They are on the podcast notes pages and in curated lists such as the best Diary of a CEO episodes.
• Corrections. If we get something wrong, email kaizen@b-e-t-t-e-r.com and we will fix it.

Who it is for

People who want to stay informed without spending their morning on news sites, and who like getting one concrete idea they can use that day. Readers call themselves Betterists.

What it costs

Nothing. 1% Better is paid for by sponsors, and every sponsored section is labeled "Together with" so you can tell it apart from the editorial. You can unsubscribe in one click from the bottom of any email.

Common questions

When it arrives, how long it takes and how to manage your subscription are all in the 1% Better FAQ. If you already read James Clear's newsletter, see how 1% Better compares with 3-2-1.