The Compound Effect and the Power of Small Changes
Last year I was introduced to the work of Darren Hardy, an author, thought leader, and the founder of Success Magazine. His work has really changed my perspective on change and success and I'd like to share a few thoughts. Darren talks about the importance of persistence and consistency in the change process and how that is the key to success. Darren wrote a book entitled, The Compound Effect. The Compound Effect is the principle of reaping significant rewards from a series of small, smart choices. Most importantly is realizing that these small, seemingly insignificant steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference. And by the way, the operative word in the last sentence is will, not may or can.
Darren states that earning success is hard. It is laborious, tedious, sometimes (maybe oftentimes!) even boring. That is why we always seem to abandon a new change pretty quickly. How many can relate to that? Start a new diet, and if we don’t lose 10 pounds in a short period of time, we give up thinking -this is not working! Commit to meditation, only to abandon if we don't see any dramatic change in our ability to be peaceful i challenging situations. As restless humans living in today's world, we have been socialized to believe that maybe, just maybe, things will change magically and quickly, without much effort on our part at all. Darren Hardy says this is simply not true, and I believe him.
Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE
He uses an example that perfectly illustrates his truth: If you were given a choice between taking $3 million in cash this very instant and a single penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days, which would you choose? Of course, most of of would take the 3 million, right? Let’s say you did, and your friend took the penny. On day 5, the other person has sixteen cents. You, however, have $3 million. On day 10, it’s $5.12 versus your big bucks. How do you think your friend is feeling about her decision? ’...After 20 full days, with only 11 days left, Penny Lane has only $5,243. How is she feeling about herself at this point? For all her sacrifice and positive behavior, she has barely more than $5,000. You, however, have $3 million. Then the invisible magic of the Compound Effect starts to become visible. The same small mathematical growth improvement each day makes the compounded penny worth $10,737,418.24 on Day Thirty-one, more than three times your $3 million.’ Wow. Wow. Think about it - a Small, Smart Choice + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE (and about 8 million dollars more in this example!
So what does this have to do with the MA Chapter? From a professional standpoint - putting in a day's hard work, seeing your clients day after day, and week after week, can be laborious, tedious, sometimes (maybe oftentimes!) even boring-as stated above. It is hard for you and your client to not see immediate change a a result of your treatment protocol. But you are making such a difference in people's lives by your consistency and your willingness to empower them make small changes in their lives-and to stick with them and you. Equally important, from a personal standpoint, this concept continues to serve me well when I want to give up on an important life change I have considered and committed to. I know, deep down, that the Compound Effect is true and that if I am simply able to persist, that eventually, I will realize the results and outcome I envision.
I will leave you with a quote by a mentor of mine, Jim Rohn "The ultimate reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them." Set big ones-and please-stick with them until the magic happens!
It is my honor and privilege to serve you all and I welcome and look forward to hearing from you with boths joys and challenges! I hope to see you all in Needham in April and please don’t hesitate to email me at lisaparenteau@gmail.com. Namaste.