E19: The Compound Effect

Show Notes Related Article: Why I Swear by Having a Solid Morning RoutineRecommended Book: The Compound Effect Episode Transcript Forgive typos and odd grammatical mistakes—this was transcribed using the magic of AI, and while it’s insanely awesome, it’s not perfect. [00:00:00] Welcome back to the I Hear You podcast. This show is dedicated to helping you live a more powerful, connected, joy filled life. And while we typically focus in on relationships and how to change our thinking and actions there, today we’re taking a break from that, at least in part because while today’s episode doesn’t relate directly to relationships, it absolutely has an impact on them. And the reason that I’m talking about it today, is that it has an impact on your productivity as a human being. [00:00:33] It has an impact on your dreams and on your passions and on your physical health, on your financial health and your financial stability. With really every element of your life, if you want to improve, if you want to be better, today’s principal, the compound effect is one of the best ways to achieve that. Let’s dive in. [00:01:15] Alright, today’s topic comes from The New York Times best selling book titled The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Love, love, love this book. I read it. Gosh, I don’t even know 15, 20 years ago. And it literally changed my life. I’ve got to find a different way of saying things because I feel like I say that every single episode. And yet, as as you’re going to see here later on in the episode, I’m not exaggerating. [00:01:45] It’s so empowering. It’s such a simple principle, but it makes such a difference. And so I’m going to cut right to the chase here. The core idea of this principle is that small, consistent actions result in massive success. The keyword here, though, is consistent. Small, consistent actions make all the difference. The Magic Penny  [00:02:12] Now, I want to lead into this with a couple examples that Hardy shares from his book and they’re pretty early on, the first he titles The Magic Penny. And so I want to relate this to you, I want to ask you this question. So if you were given the choice between taking three million dollars in cash today or a single penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days. Which would you choose? Now, you’re probably skeptical because it seems like too obvious of a decision, and so you probably are assuming the penny must be the better choice. But why? And why is it so hard to believe that that’s the better choice? Well, the issue is, is because it takes a lot longer to see the payoff of one penny doubling every day for 31 days. [00:03:02] And it can be difficult to imagine that that could possibly be any bit as good or better than three million dollars in cold hard cash today. So let let’s explore, though, what happens here. Let’s say that you take the cold hard cash and your friend takes the penny that doubles. We go forward a few days here. Day five, your friend has 16 cents, a whopping 16 cents. You, on the other hand, have three million dollars. Maybe you’ve got a new car. You have a new house. You maybe even have a vacation home and you’re living the dream. Life is good. Getting that cash upfront, amazing. [00:03:41] And it’s going to kind of look like that for a while. We fast forward day 6, day 7. Day 20.. Your friend only has $5,243. You’re three quarters of the way through the month. He’s got five grand. How do you think they’re feeling in that moment? Looking at you in your new house, your fancy new car, your $3 million cash, and they have five grand. Maybe they’re regretting it a little bit thinking, gee I should’ve taken the cash. I thought, you know, someone told me that this was gonna pay off, but day 20, five grand.. I’m not seeing it. [00:04:15] Day 29, skip ahead