Compounding a good or bad result
The signs are all there…
And you know they are.
But you choose to ignore them.
You think you’ll do something about it, tomorrow, or one day soon.
I’m a big fan of the compound effect.
It can work for you, or against you.
It can nourish your life or show neglect.
It’s basically the results you get from all the things you do every day; your habits, your thoughts, your decisions, your choices
Over a long period of time, they have a profound effect on you and your life.
“Ordinary things, consistently done, producing extraordinary results.”
If you are constantly making incremental improvements, at first it feels like nothing is happening, but if you persist, then you gain huge momentum.
In all areas of your life.
Think about:
- Your fitness levels
- Your weight / body shape
- Your relationships at home and at work
- Your relationship with yourself / your confidence and self-esteem
- Your food
- Your sleep
- Your hydration
- Your work / career / business
- Your fun / hobbies
- Your home
- Your time for you / relaxation / re-charge
- Your finances
You don’t just wake up one day and you’re unfit, overweight, tired, unhappy and broke.
You got this way through making bad decisions either consciously or unconsciously.
As humans, we’re mostly programmed to survive, and to seek the path of least resistance, and to seek pleasure.
That daily choice of a Mars bar versus an apple – what do you do?
If it’s the chocolate every day then guess what, over a long period of time, the compound effect is putting on weight. Taken as a one-off event, nothing will change but compounded over time, it’s a whole new level of results.
Have you ever seen the maths of taking one penny and doubling it every day for thirty-one days?
How much money would you have on day 31?
It’s £10,737,418.24
That’s right, £10.7million.
Okay, it’s not a realistic saving or investment plan but its more to prove a point or show the principles of patience and compounding.
Interestingly though, on day sixteen, you’re over halfway there and yet all you’d have is £327.68—do the maths and see for yourself.
And that’s why most people give up. They feel like they are putting in all this effort and not getting rewarded.
Or worse, they get impatient and take a stupid risk that sets them back years, just before they were about to get the ‘overnight success’ they’d been looking for.
One day you’ll have that sense of realisation of what you’ve done to yourself though. Like I did.
When that happens you’ll then take stock of your self and your life and start the hard slog of reversing the compound effect.
So why not avoid having to reverse those bad results now, start today with a new goal and new habits to produce what you want in the long run.
Avoid that day when you wake up and suddenly realise the effects of the easy choices you made, and how unfit, overweight, tired, unhappy and broke you are.
Or you can just carry on as you are. Whatever makes you happy really.
But ask yourself, will what makes me happy today, actually make me happy in the long run?
Short term pleasure seekers rarely find long term fulfillment.
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