"All science is physics or stamp collecting." - Ernest Rutherford
There are variations on this sentiment regarding physics as the father of all science, or the only real science, because all understanding in other scientific fields is derived from the understanding that the laws of physics provide.
In the realm of self-improvement I would extend this same quality to meditation, if you start with this, all other improvements will eventually follow. Committing to a daily practice of meditation for only a few minutes every day has changed my life over the last two years, in all areas of my life. But it started with meditation, everything else is stamp collecting.