The Power Of The Compound Effect.
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I have recently read the book “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy and was blown away by the takeaways that connected the dots in my personal and professional life. According to Hardy, the Compound Effect is “the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices.”
Every day we move one step at a time to our goals if we have those. Some of the goals will take days, others – years. Grinding every day with persistence, dedication, and passion is a challenge because, unlike instant gratification from buying coffee or cleaning the closet, the outcomes of the day-to-day hard work in pursuing one’s goal are not tangible, sometimes long awaited, and for many unbelievable.
And yet, when connecting dots that take us back five or ten years to the roots and the beginning of our dream, we finally realize that habitual sticking to what really matters and what needs to be done lead to drastic qualitative changes in one’s life, routine, career – a ladder to success the second step of which cannot often be seen. Quantitative changes eventually turn into qualitative changes, indeed. Dreams come true. The dots connect, don’t they?
Many times have I heard, “Follow one course until success, ” “Persevere,” “Stick to it,” Don’t give up, it will pay off.“ Some time ago I made a proclamation that affected many areas of my life. Because I needed changes in how I felt about my career path and the path of my passions (the two didn’t coincide for me), I made a decision to finally stick to my goals. I was, and I am still petrified by what I am taking on; however, fast decision-taking has eliminated a lot of fears that previously would stop me from challenging myself and being happy.
A lot of it, by the way, I attribute to the “5-Second Rule” by Mel Robbins. A “5-second-rule” tribe has received an incredible tool for making things work finally. In the end, you will never have the motivation to do anything, so you might as well ditch the idea right now and start slapping your fear in the face by writing that email, making that phone call, applying for that graduate school, throwing away that postcard, and saying “bye” to a lot of junk in your minds that tells us, “Well, you’d be an idiot to do that!” Screw that fear! I’m doing this! There is no way I am alive in sixty years.
What’s In It For You?
So what about the power of the compound effect and what’s in it for you? The understanding of the power of the compound effect eliminates the trap created by the modern world about getting things right away, with no percent down and even bad credit and then complaining why reality sucks, why you feel unsatisfied and bloated from consuming all that junk by your body and mind. It’s somewhat an old-fashioned, proven guarantee that hard work and persistence do pay off. There is no instant gratification, but rather a habitual deposit into your goal or yourself that will eventually accumulate some critical mass that will start paying you dividends in the future.
Picture this. You are a daredevil. You’ve decided to master a new language that you plan to use on your trip to India. Your trip is months or even years away, but it has become your obsession, your goal to go there and stroll along the streets of New Delhi bargaining with the locals. The first day when you start learning Hindi or Punjabi, or whatever you chose is quite overwhelming. You immediately think it’s a stupid idea, and that you will never accomplish this.
But then you proceed anyway. You start with a couple of words. Then you start noticing resources for learning this particular language online. After that, you take an online course or a classroom course. You move from words to phrases, from three words a day to ten words a day. Later, you partner up with a buddy who teaches you Hindi in exchange for teaching him/her some English. Two months in, you are making simple sentences. Six months in, you can have a basic conversation about you and your family. Thirteen months in, you feel more invested and more hyped about your ability to hold a simple conversation. After three years, with a ticket to New Delhi, you are flying to your dream destination. And guess what? You are strolling along those streets you had been dreaming about having a conversation with the locals. Do you see the jump? The first day was zero, it was just a decision to learn something new. As the time went, and as you continued to habitually “deposit” into your dream, sticking to it, the power of the compound effect kicked in, and now you are far ahead in having this dream language under your belt!
How about teaching? Hey, new teacher! The power of the compound effect will work for you, too! So will it for new salespeople, managers, new moms, new anything. Teaching always starts with a catastrophe. It’s not what college or university teaches it will be. It’s an Appolo 13 mission that will fail, and the lives will almost be lost; however, everyone will turn out to be OK. Persistent and habitual contribution to self- and professional development will take the form of tiny quantitative changes that with the time will morph into qualitative changes, and – kaboom! – you have just experienced the power of the compound effect!
It’s Used For Anything You Desire.
The fantastic thing about the power of the compound effect is its applicability to almost everything in your life: be it cooking, art, speaking a different language, job experience, relationship. Anything! It’s like the magic power, indeed. There is one fundamental key, however, – habitual persistent “deposit” to your dream. You have to contribute, you have to deposit, you have to keep on moving, or writing, or doing, or practicing every single day. That’s it.
When I first read about the power of the compound effect, I was stunned about how the power of the compound effect can work in all areas of life. If it works, it can be applied to anything one desires.
I teach English to students who don’t speak it. Having learned the language from scratch myself, I used to think that the trade of teaching a language to someone else is like trying to sell someone a retirement plan when they are just teenagers. Who cares about what will happen five, ten, twenty years from now? So many products of the modern society are based on the idea of today and now, immediate results, no pain, quick and easy, money back guarantee. Many students ask me the same question: “How can I speak English well?” “You know, buddy, we are talking about five-six years minimum before you start feeling comfortable expressing yourself in this language.” Oh well, of course, I never say that. Instead, I am supposed to, and I do give encouragement and instead model how to focus on something more tangible, something accomplishable, something that can work in the meantime.
Fluency in a language starts with short sentences with confusion between is/ am/ are. The language system seems blurry, and many words look the same. The new language is taking an awkward shape with the backbone of the first language. Sentences sound weird, and words are mispronounced. Although I see much more of a ladder that my students need to climb, my purpose in the classroom is to show the closest next step and the benefits of this step. Many learners thrive in the environment that fosters the completion of small measurable steps. Others feel it’s all just a waste of time, and it’s possible to be happy or wealthy without mastering another tongue in this country. Who knows. Time will show, and I hope time will prove me wrong about many students who decided to choose something other than “depositing” in their “language account.”
What I know for sure, the power of the compound effect does work for many of my students. After a busy summer of Rosetta Stone learning and only English movie watching, Jonathan is so much more comfortable in talking to me about his summer. He doesn’t believe it himself. He started talking! A very shy Maria is saying “Hi, how are you?” and “How is your day going so far?” and I’m stunned because this is the moment when the power of the compound effect, Maria’s sticking to it, contributing every single day made these two phrases so easy and so natural to pronounce.
I do try to explain to my students about the importance of not giving up, sticking to priorities, contributing every day to something small, and anticipating the results in future with the power of the compound effect. I have these conversations every day in my classroom with my students like I have this conversation inside of my head, conquering my fears and building decisiveness with a 5-second rule and belief in the power of the compound effect. Whatever is done habitually, purposefully, despite all the fears and “not feeling like it” – will give fruit later on and will be intensified more and more with the X10 or X100 power. In the end, the level of mastery comes after 1000 hours of practice, and it’s proven. Sounds like old school? Well, you choose for yourself. Young generation tends to dismiss many of old-school theories with the intent to become something faster and with the less effort possible. We do live in the society where quick fixes are possible. While it works for some areas, real success and fulfillment in business and personal life are never generated through 30-days money back guarantee solutions.
The takeaway is simple. If you are still not familiar, educate yourself about the two amazing tools: the 5-second rule and the power of the compound effect. Start implementing those every single day of your life. Check back on your result in two years. Be in awe of how much you have accomplished.
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Good luck!
