Cody Foster – The Compound Effect In Business Growth

As I write this article, I’m coming off a long weekend with the mastermind group I’ve been a part of now for awhile that you’ve heard me reference quite often. It’s a collection of 11 entrepreneurs who all met each other through attending DARREN HARDY ’s High Performance Forum (now relabeled as Business Master Class).

What was unique about this gathering is it was the 10-year anniversary of us attending HPF back in 2014, so we spent a large majority of the time talking about how much growth we had all experienced over the past decade.

What was interesting is almost all of us knew Darren from reading his book “The Compound Effect,” and we were all commenting on how we had seen the compound effect play out in our lives (and businesses) over the past 10 years.

At its core, the compound effect is based on the idea that small, smart choices, consistently executed over time, lead to significant outcomes. This principle is often illustrated through the example of compound interest in finance, where the interest earned on an initial sum is reinvested to earn additional interest, resulting in exponential growth. Darren’s insight, however, transcends financial applications and extends into personal habits, health, relationships and, notably, business growth.

Not only have I seen the compound effect play out in our business over the past 10 years, but I’ve also gotten to watch it in yours. I’d encourage you to pause and take a quick inventory of how your life looks today compared to 10 years ago. Now here is the exciting part: Project that compounding out over the next decade.

Because this is a concept that’s not new to most of you, let me share the two key conversations that we had, after we celebrated our successes, that were the important takeaways.

1. The beauty of the compound effect is, it’s the consistent choices, made day after day, that lead to long-term success. But what’s easy to do is also easy to ignore, or not do. Darren said it well to our group. Your success today has nothing to do with what you are doing today. It’s the outcome of the actions you were taking six months ago. So the question you should always be asking yourself is this: “What are the things I’m neglecting today that won’t cost me now, but six months from now could create problems?” The best leaders are consistent in doing the boring things. Complacency can lead you to stop doing the right things, so make sure it doesn’t.
2. The compound effect is boring. It’s not the big, massive changes that matter. Again, it’s the small daily choices, done well, that lead to success. But as entrepreneurs, we get easily bored and distracted. Then we start to mess with things because we are bored. While this may be fulfilling to us because we’re bored, it often frustrates and distracts your team and kills momentum. Make sure you aren’t making changes just because you’re bored!

You’ve heard me say it often, but the next decade will be the best decade ever for your business. The foundation is built and the compound effect is working. Our job is to keep the momentum going and not mess it up! It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life to get to witness the amazing success that you all have achieved, and I can’t wait to see where you go from here. We’re thankful to be on this journey with you!