One of the things Krishnamurti talks about is being in an internal state of revolution. You should always be internally ready for a complete change. Whenever we say we’re going to try to do something or try to form a habit, we’re wimping out.
We’re just saying to ourselves, “I’m going to buy myself some more time.” The reality is when our emotions want us to do something, we just do it. If you want to go approach a pretty girl, if you want to have a drink, if you really desire something, you just go do it.
-The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness
You must continuously revolt against your current self if you want to become a higher version of yourself.
This is why self-actualization is an ongoing, hard thing. And that's why most people don't do it.
The problem is entropy: the law of the universe that all things regress to disorder. You are either growing and becoming more or you are eroding away.
This applies to your skills, work, health, relationships, you name it. If you aren't continually investing effort and energy into each, they will eventually slide into the abyss.
Unfortunately, this is a law humans cannot escape.
But it's easy to overcome this through your habits. Become a person that takes the path of most resistance, that seeks out difficulty, that continually challenges yourself. When you build these habits into your being, you'll fight entropy and find growth every day of your life as a byproduct of being who you are. In that case, you get massive results from compound interest.
Instead, most people struggle to tread water, going a bit up when they are motivated then regressing to their mean soon after.
This is why the 1% will always be the 1%.