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The Compound Effect — Best Growth Hacking Tips
The strategy of reaping huge rewards from small, seemingly insignificant actions
The compound effect is an excellent book by Darren Hardy in the growth and self-development genre. Does the book lay the foundation for understanding how your small choices can end up making enormous impacts on your life?
The Magic Penny
In the book, Darren hardy explains the idea of compound interest using the magic penny idea. The basic idea is that when looking at these two options, which one looks more attractive? Three million dollars right now, or a penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days?
You might have heard this before, and if you haven’t, you probably would have picked the three million dollars just because you don’t know the power of compounding interest. After 31 days, the penny choice is worth five point three million dollars, almost double the first option.
We can compare this growth to ourselves; for example, you eat a small chocolate bar every morning for around three years. If the chocolate bar is around 125 calories and you do nothing extra to your diet or exercise program, you would gain an extra thirty-nine pounds in those three years. Because 125 calories times 365 days times three years, you divide it by three thousand five hundred calories per pound, you get 39 pounds.
This principle is at play in every minute of our lives. Imagine if your read merely ten pages a day for three years. That’s around forty-three books in three years by only reading ten pages a day. This is life-changing. In fact, some experts say that the minimum number of books to read to become more knowledgeable at a topic more than 90% of the general public is just after reading forty-three books, you’ll be ranking with the experts in less than three years.
Owning 100% of Your Choices
The next idea I want to talk about is about owning 100%. This is a paradox; since these small daily choices are easy to do, they are easy to skip. You might think, I’ll read 10 pages tonight or workout tomorrow morning and burn off this donut; I’ll get that project done next week. We keep making these kinds of promises to…
