The Compound Effect

 

I read the book “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. I have to say it’s a phenomenal book that hits home and actually breaks down the keys to be successful in your field. The core message I got was that no matter what you learn, what strategy or tactic you employ, success comes as the result of the Compound Effect. New or more info is not what you need, what you need is a plan of action that will get you the results. Below are some of the insights I got from the book

1. You Haven’t Experienced the Payoff of the Compound Effect

"The truth is, complacency has impacted all great empires, including, but not limited to, the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English. Why? Because nothing fails like success. Once dominant empires have failed for this very reason. People get to a certain level of success and get too comfortable"- Darren Hardy

What you don’t realize is that these small, seemingly insignificant steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference. 

Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE

We have to keep working on our craft day in, day out for a long time before we see success. However, small daily actions towards your goals will compound over time and one day reap you the results that you wanted. For example, if you were to get Ksh 1 that doubles in value every day, by day 31 it will be over Ksh 10,000,000

·       Choices and Owning 100%

"We all come into this world the same: naked, scared, and ignorant. After that grand entrance, the life we end up with is simply an accumulation of all the choices we make. Our choices can be our best friend or our worst enemy. They can deliver us to our goals or send us orbiting into a galaxy far, far away" - Darren Hardy

We must take full responsibilities for our actions. Blaming others for our failures won't help us progress further. By taking 100% responsibility, you know you don't have time to monkey around and you move with purpose, with urgency

·       Track it

You cannot see you where you are and how far you have come if you are not measuring your progressing. That can only be done by tracking your activities towards your goals. For example, if you want to lose weight, track your calories, if you want to gain muscle, track your lifts, if you want to become money conscious , track your spending.

When this is done on the daily, you are aware if you are moving in the right direction and whether you need to take it up a notch or not.

2.Habits

"We are what we repeatedly do" - Aristotle

Psychological studies reveal that 95 percent of everything we feel, think, do, and achieve is a result of a learned habit! So why are we so irrationally enslaved by so many bad habits? It’s because our need for immediate gratification can turn us into the most reactive, non thinking animals around.

·       Your Why-Power

"The access point to your why-power is through your core values, which define both who you are and what you stand for. Your core values are your internal compass, your guiding beacon, your personal GPS. When your actions conflict with your values, you’ll end up unhappy, frustrated, and despondent. In fact, psychologists tell us that nothing creates more, stress than when our actions and behaviors aren’t congruent with our values."  -Darren Hardy

Your why power is better than will power when it comes to eliminating bad habits and keep good ones. Will power diminishes over time but your why power keeps you going through tough times. Will power can only get you so far especially after the motivation to do something runs out. Why power keeps you going long after your will power and motivation run out. You will be able to do what you need to do even if you don't want to.

Your why power will overpower the need for instant gratification from bad habits. If you have a very strong reason behind your actions, you will not falter to bad habits because of the need of instant gratification. You will be able to play the long game and reap greater rewards in the future.

3. Momentum

"Adopting any change is the same way. You get started by taking one small step, one action at a time. Progress is slow, but once a newly formed habit has kicked in, Big Mo joins the party. Your success and results compound rapidly." - Darren Hardy

Recall Netwon's First Law; Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted by upon by an external force. Couch potatoes tend to stay couch potatoes while high achievers tend to achieve even more greatness. This is momentum. Once you get the ball rolling, it cannot be stopped

How do you get Big Mo to pay you a visit? You build up to it. You get into the groove, the “zone,” by doing the things we’ve covered so far:

1. Making new choices based on your goals and core values
2. Putting those choices to work through new positive behaviors
3. Repeating those healthy actions long enough to establish new habits
4. Building routines and rhythms into your daily disciplines
5. Staying consistent over a long enough period of time

·       Routine Power

"Some of our best intentions fail because we don’t have a system of execution. When it comes down to it, your new attitudes and behaviors must be incorporated into your monthly, weekly, and daily routines to affect any real, positive change. A routine is something you do every day without fail, so that eventually, like brushing your teeth or putting on your seatbelt, you do it without conscious thought." - Darren Hardy

Routines make our life less stressful as our actions become automatic and effective. You essentially don't even need to think about it, you just do. So if you have powerful routines that gear you to success, success will definitely be inevitable

 

4.   The  Formula for A Successful Compound Effect:

Preparation (personal growth) + Attitude (belief/mindset) +Opportunity (a good thing coming your way) +Action (doing something about it) = Luck

Preparation: By consistently improving and preparing yourself—your skills, knowledge, expertise, relationships, and resources—you have the wherewithal to take advantage of great opportunities when they arise (when luck “strikes”).

Attitude: This is where luck evades most people, and where Sir Richard is spot-on with his belief that luck is all around us. It’s simply a matter of seeing situations, conversations, and circumstances as fortuitous. You cannot see what you don’t look for, and you cannot look for what you don’t believe in.

Opportunity: It’s possible to make your own luck, but the luck I’m talking about here isn’t planned for, or it comes faster or differently than expected. In this stage of the formula, luck isn’t forced. It’s a natural occurrence, and it often shows up seemingly of its own accord.

Action: This is where you come in. However this luck was delivered to you—from the universe, God, the Lucky Charms leprechaun, or whomever or whatever you associate delivering your good fortune—it’s now your job to act on it. This is what separates the Richard Bransons from the Joseph Wallingtons. Joseph who? Exactly. You’ve never heard of him. That’s because he failed to take action on all the lucky things that happened to him.

Thank you for reading all the way to the end. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know in the comment section. See you next time!

 

.