Is there a personal development or business book that you read over and over again? The type of book that you bust out a few times a year and always get reinspired, reconnected or informed again?
One of those books for me is The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. I picked this book up for the first time more than a decade ago and I have read it a few times a year since then. The thing is- it’s not a very complicated book. It’s not a big book. Physically, it’s a small book and is less than 170 pages. But each time I read it, I learn something that I didn’t get the previous time reading. More importantly, perhaps, is that certain principles that I know to be true become reinforced after they have slowly eroded from my mind.
Consistency, we know, is a core principle for creating a successful business, career and life. My book, The Wealth of Connection was based around 5 C’s- Character, Curiosity, Connection, Collaboration and Creation- and an easy sixth would have been consistency. And as much as we know this, it’s the rare few who truly stay consistent long enough to make their entrepreneurial dreams come true.
Why?
I think one of the reasons is because we now have too many options. For those of us old enough to remember, there was a time when there weren’t enough options. You couldn’t publish a podcast in a day. You didn’t have access to quality graphics and templates at your fingertips. You couldn’t ask AI to write you a book and you couldn’t buy a social media presence that made you look like a bigger deal than you actually are.
All of this was less than 15 years ago.
But now, everyone can do anything right now. But the problem is, nobody is doing much for very long.
Why?
Because there is such a need for instant gratification that it’s too hard to do the work consistently to make something that’s real. It’s too tempting to chase the whole “Write a bestseller in 30 days” than it is to put the time in- day after day, month after month and year after year, to create something that ages like a fine wine instead of month-old cheese.
When I struggle with those short-term pulls, I head over to our library and grab the Compound Effect once again. And I go to page 11 and to the story called Three Friends.
In the book, Hardy describes three fictional friends who all live in the same neighborhood, all making the same income of $50,000 a year. Equal in many ways, each is married and has average health.
Friend One is one of us who does the same ol’, same ol’. He doesn’t seek to change much at all.
Friend Two is becoming tired of being average and decides to make small, positive changes in his life. Nothing dramatic though. No lightning bolt from God telling him it’s time to go all in. With that, he starts reading a few pages a day of a book and a little time each day listening to something motivational and informative. Health wise, he didn’t want to go crazy, but again, he wanted to do something. So he decided to cut a few calories a day and walk just a few thousand steps each day as well.
Friend Three went the opposite way. He watched just a little more television while learning to cook some of his favorite dishes. With that, he added an additional alcoholic drink to the menu each week as well. He just wanted to have a little more fun.
What was interesting was that after five months, no real change was visible, with any of them. Even though Friend Two was doing healthier things and Friend Three was doing unhealthier things, their weight didn’t change, nor did their appearance. After ten months, that was the same. No change was visible.
It wasn’t until a year and a half later that changes between them were seen! And even then, the changes were slight.
But it was just after two years that the change became impossible to ignore. Each month into the third year, the difference between the two becomes startling. Halfway through the third year, Friend Two has lost 33 pounds while Friend Three has gained 33.5 pounds! Friend Two is also advancing in his career with a thriving marriage. Friend Three can’t stand his job and is unhappy in his marriage. And Friend One? He’s exactly as he was nearly three years ago.
Friends, it’s no different in business. We hear stories about people who go viral online and want to emulate that, not realizing that they are the lottery winners of our world. I have two friends who have gotten instant success online. It was one of those things that just happened. The problem is, they can’t explain what happened and they can’t even teach it to others because they don’t even know. Even worse, their habits of consistency aren’t developed because that success came too easily, and now they are both struggling to deal with that challenge.
It’s okay to not have it all today. Business is not meant to be easy. If it was, everyone would do it. But it is meant to be consistent. If you want to quit your blog, podcast or service because it’s not gaining enough traction after a few months, go read The Compound Effect. It’s one of my go to books when I am feeling impatient. It’s a book I get inspired by when I feel down on myself. And it’s one of the books that has taught me to take a deep breath, put the reps in and allow the good things to come over time after I put the work in.
Have an AMAZING week!
Vincent
P.S.-If Friend Two sounds appealing to you and you’d like a guide to help you stay consistent on your journey towards time and financial freedom, then be sure to check out Total Life Freedom School. Where we map out the steps you can start taking right now that will lead to greater freedom in your future!
