The Compound Effect
By Darren Hardy
“Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE
“It’s the power of the little things adding up. It’s not the big things that add up in the end. It’s the hundreds, thousands, or millions of little things that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary.”
I have a love/hate relationship with self-improvement books, especially those focused on productivity. Why? Because most books in this category are simply not that good. Despite this, I can’t help myself. I’m always hoping to discover a tiny bit of knowledge I can use to attain peak efficiency. There’s also the possibility of uncovering a hidden secret I can use to become better at life. I’m usually disappointed but I continue reading. Even though I enjoyed other books on habit formation such as The Power of Habit and Atomic Habits, I had low expectations about The Compound Effect. After all, what more could be said? I was pleasantly surprised. The writing is clear and the examples relevant. It is quotable and applicable knowledge is sprinkled throughout. Most importantly, it dived into a concept most people understand intuitively but fail to follow.
The Compound Effect isn’t new or earth shattering. It doesn’t contain any groundbreaking insights. The material is, as I suggested above, presented in an entertaining way while still making one feel like they learned something. The summary is straightforward: do a little bit of the right things enough times and consistently (that is the operative word) and your life’s trajectory will change. Just like a savings account earning interest, a little bit invested consistently builds upon itself and grows exponentially. What most people do not realize is that, for better or worse, the compound effect is always working. So, think about what you want (or don’t want) and begin taking small steps to make it happen. The results can be incredible.
Too often we look at the big picture and the daunting task ahead of us with fear. It’s better to focus instead on the small incremental steps necessary to make the change, reach a goal or become the person we aspire to become. I often get overwhelmed with a challenge or an insurmountable mountain. For instance, I previously injured my foot and hadn’t been able to run for months. I was out of shape, overweight, and needed a change. My foot eventually healed but rather than lace-up my shoes and go outside, I spent mornings on the couch thinking about how I needed to run again. The thought of getting up and running even a 5K or a 10K was too much. There was zero chance I could run those distances. I required a new mindset. So, I found an apt example from the book and put it to the test. I ran. Not for 10 km. Not even 5 km. But ¼ mile. That was it. I felt winded and was even more out of shape than I realized. Even so, I could have gone further. But that wasn’t the point. The next day I ran a little further, perhaps thirty feet more. The day after I did a little more. My wife even mocked me for running such short distances and explained that such a small ‘mileage’ wouldn’t be effective. She would have been right if I only stayed running ¼ mile. At the end of the week I was running around the block, about ½ mile. Every day I ran just a little bit longer than yesterday. Even if I could go further, I didn’t. The key was small incremental improvements. Soon I was up to ¾ mile, then a mile, then longer. After three weeks I regularly ran two miles. If I ran two miles on day one, right off the couch, I may have reinjured myself or would have quit within a day or two. I now run longer distances without issues or injuries. The key is consistency. Just a little every day. These days, if I don’t run two or three miles and only have time for one mile, then no big deal. I’m not going to beat myself up because the goal is to show up. Some days I choose to ride my bike for ten or twenty miles instead of running. My goal is not to run a marathon. I simply want to stay in shape and avoid the slothful feeling like I did when laying on the couch after my foot injury. Again, it’s about consistency, regardless of the goal. I tried doing the same thing with pushups after recovering from my injury. One day I did ten. The next day, eleven. The day after that, twelve. I added one more each day until I got to one hundred. That is the compound effect.
The compound effect is always working. It flows in the opposite direction too. If I ate a bag of potato chips every day, I wouldn’t see the impact immediately. But over time my waistline, my arteries, and my glucose levels would, eventually, compound in a negative direction. As one can imagine, I’ve since become very aware of my daily choices. More importantly, I’ve paid more attention to my daily habits. If I notice myself doing something day after day, I question whether my actions are compounding in a negative or a positive direction.
Figure out your goal. Find what is standing in your way. Then determine what is required to get where you want to go. It isn’t limited to fitness. The same principle can be applied to personal finance, learning a language, playing an instrument, or any other habits or skills you’d like to develop. As Hardy explains, “magic is not in the complexity of the task. The magic is in doing the simple things repeatedly and long enough to ignite the miracle of the Compound Effect.” Find something you want to accomplish and without feeling daunted or overwhelmed by the magnitude, start small. And then consistently build upon your accomplishments, your habit. Try it.