The 1% Diary Review: Is It Worth It?
What is the 1% Diary by Steven Bartlett and what makes this planner different from all the others? In this 1% Diary review, I’m breaking down my honest thoughts and experiences after completing the 90-day diary and most importantly, whether I believe it’s worth the hype.
Think of it like fad diets vs. healthy living – fad diets make you feel like you’re taking huge action because they’re difficult, they feel like hard work and therefore make consistency impossible.
Before Starting the 1% Diary & The Problem with Productivity Journals
Ever since I heard that Steven Bartlett was releasing a planner called The 1% Diary, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy! I am a huge fan of the Diary of a CEO podcast as well as the One Percent Instagram page – definitely worth following. Although I’ve always loved productivity planners and goal-tracking diaries, I’ve struggled to find one that:
- Provide enough room to write my ideas, to-do lists or tiny daily micro tasks
- Keep me accountable
- Can be specifically applied to my lifestyle and business
- Offers something more than just a motivational quote here and there in order to stay consistent
In 2017 I switched to using the Bullet Journal Method and I never looked back. Well, that was until the release of the 1% Diary. When I started the 1% Diary back in March 2025 I knew that if it didn’t suit my needs, I’d just go back to using a Bullet Journal.
My results? 272 blog posts later here I am…
What is the 1% Diary by Steven Bartlett?
The 1% Diary is a 90-day journal focusing on the 1% mindset, made famous by Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO podcast. Instead of focusing on big goals and hard daily tasks, the One Percent mindset is all about “sweating the small stuff” by focusing on the small but consistent tasks we do each and every day. While they may not seem important at first, those small micro habits stack up and by the end of 10, 30, 90, 1000 days the outcome can be far greater than if you were to focus on completing big tasks over a shorter period of time that were unsustainable long-term.
How Does the 1% Diary Work?
The 1% Diary encourages you to set small, impactful actions that are easy to maintain over an extended period of time. Think of it like fad diets vs. healthy living – fad diets make you feel like you’re taking huge action because they’re difficult, they feel like hard work and therefore make consistency impossible. Whereas once you’ve got into the habit of maintaining a balanced, healthy lifestyle, you can stay consistent forever more without it dominating your thoughts or taking up too much time. Instead, with a healthy lifestyle, you reap the benefits further down the line by staying consistent – just like with the 1% diary and mindset.
As someone who likes a challenge and is always piling more work on themselves, the 1% Diary completely changed my life! It’s structured into 3 sections – one for each 30-day milestone. At the beginning of the 90 days, Steven Bartlett explains in depth how to create tiny 1% tasks and how they correlate with your bigger goals. The personal examples given by Steven himself are really helpful when setting your goals and writing your 1% tasks. There are also weekly check-ins and every 30 days there is a sealed envelope within the diary that you can only open after completing each 30-day milestone. I loved this because it really helped to keep me accountable. It made me feel as though I’d be cheating myself if I opened them early or without completing my daily 1% tasks.
Shop Now
My Honest 1% Diary Review
Have you ever bought a planner or goal-setting journal, loved it to begin with and then lost interest as the weeks and months go by? Most likely because, if you’re anything like me, you’ve set unrealistic goals or didn’t know how to break your daily tasks down enough to make them realistic and therefore you fall of track and feel disappointed (with yourself and the planner). Well the 1% Diary is the only diary I’ve ever enjoyed more as the days, weeks and months pass by. Mainly because it’s extremely rewarding to see my progress and it really helped to keep me accountable. I couldn’t wait to see those little 1% task results build up each and every day and I really looked forward to the weekly reflections and rewards at the 30, 60, and 90 day milestones. Not only did the 1% Diary keep me consistent and on track while I worked through the diary each day, it has also completely changed the way I view goal setting (more on that later). Finally, if you’re wondering whether this One Percent Diary is a suitable replacement for a regular daily diary then the answer is yes. This diary is your all-in-one gratitude journal, goal setting planner and daily diary too. So instead of having several separate planners for these purposes, this diary is the only one you need with plenty of room for rough notes and ideas too!
My 1% Diary Goals and Results
Back in March, it was my goal to write and publish 1 new blog post each and every day for this blog that you’re reading now. At the end of last year, I had an urge to start a brand new blog that would be positive, colorful, inspiring and encourage readers to spend more time being creative and present by sharing super easy tutorials and bitesize inspirational reads. So I launched this blog just before starting the One Percent Diary and was committed to writing and publishing daily blog posts for 90 days straight. It wasn’t always easy but I soon found that I worked best early in the mornings, whereas I used to think I worked best late at night. Not only did I stick to the 90 days of posting blog posts every day, I have also stayed consistent with daily posting and now, 272 blog posts later I’m here with a content-rich blog. I continue to apply the 1% mindset to my life each and every day. I’ve seen much bigger and better results from taking small, daily actions thanks to the 1% mindset than I have when I’ve written 12, 000 words / 10 blog posts per day for a week and then nothing for the next month.
How is the 1% Diary Different from Other Planners?
The 1% Diary is by Steven Bartlett – an incredibly successful entrepreneur, investor, podcast host, and the list goes on. Yet this diary doesn’t just focus on business success or financial wealth. One of the things that grabbed my attention and stood out to me when I first unboxed the 1% Diary was that when determining his goals, Steven wasn’t focused on big, risky goals or anything materialistic. His goals were focused on health and wellbeing, spending quality time with loved ones.
Yes, you may have a business or career-related goal that you want to focus on but the 1% diary can be used to accomplish any goal, whether in your personal or professional life. I also like the fact that Steven puts emphasis on these lifestyle goals and habits because it’s something you don’t always see in other goal and productivity journals. I now use the 1% mindset across almost all areas of my life, including health, fitness, creativity, pursuing new hobbies, learning, reading and also, planning new fun and educational activities to do with my daughter so that she has more variety.
What I’ve Learned through Using the 1% Diary
The 1% Diary has completely changed the way I approach goal setting. Instead of setting myself achievement-related goals which are somewhat out of my control, I now focus on setting myself task-related goals instead. Task-focused goals are goals that I have complete control over because they are goals that are achieved by staying consistent and disciplined with daily habits.
For e.g. you cannot control how many Instagram followers you get within the next 30 days. However, you can control how many times you show up, post, engage and therefore improve your chances of getting seen and growing over the next month.
You can’t control the exact grade you’re going to get when you take your exam next year, but you can commit to studying consistently for just 30 minutes a day to improve your chances of passing and getting good grades.
You can apply this to any area of your life and you should! I highly recommend trying the 1% Diary. It changed my life and I’m sure it will change yours too! Now available in multiple colors from TheDiary.com.
