The Compound Effect - Darren Hardy(?????)

Book 57

This is probably one of the most awesome books I’ve read this year. It is a dense, no-frills summation of what would otherwise take a dozen books to cover. It was also one of the most relatable books I’ve read. Darren talks about the compounding effect of hard work. He mentions how rather than trying to make drastic overnight changes that are hard to stick by, we should make small daily incremental changes that will compound over time. 

List out the goals you’re trying to accomplish in your personal and professional life. They could be fitness goals, a healthier lifestyle, an improved career trajectory or a happier life. Then list the few small incremental and seemingly insignificant changes you can make to your life today that will compound in value over time; these include positive changes you can make and negative actions you can cut back on. As any good PM would tell you, aggressively measure things. When you measure something, you can track its progress over time and make changes along the way. An example of this from my own life is when I started tracking my diet and exercise using the MyFitnessPal app. Just this simple habit of tracking helped me make the changes I needed to lose weight and improve my fitness over time. 

Like many other books, Darren also talks about the importance of habits. Like most things, success and failure are habits too and they can be groomed and learned. Create routines that take you in the direction of the goals you have set. There will always be inertia when you begin anything new; power through. Work past that initial force until you hit your stride and then keep the momentum going.

Carefully curate the influences in your life. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Always surround yourself by people you can learn something from and who you aspire to be like. Cut out the negative influences in your life; it can seem hard at first but you will be better off without the anchors holding your ship down. Similarly, guard your mind against garbage. Television, social media, news outlets, etc. are continuously feeding us garbage that in reality has very little consequence in our daily lives; yet we remain glued to the idiot boxes in our lives. Use your time to always learn and grow. Watch documentaries, conversations and shows that teach you something; read books, listen to audiobooks and podcasts during your drives and when performing other mundane tasks on auto-pilot; take a tiny bit of extra effort to nourish your brain and see the results of the compound effect over time. 

Lastly, make sure you have terrific mentors and coaches. The most successful people in the world always have the best coaches; they are willing to pay someone who is an expert in a field to teach them. In today’s internet age, anyone can be your mentor. Reading books and listening to podcasts are a fantastic way to get access to mentorship in a sense. In addition to that, have a few people in your life who will always hold you accountable and be willing to show you the mirror and give you the bitter medicine when needed.

While this is probably not the first book in this genre I would recommend to someone looking to get started, it is definitely one I would very strongly recommend to someone who has started walking down the path and is looking for that extra push.

I have a very similar life mantra that I had written about a few months ago on Quora; it was nice to read Darren’s approach to life that aligned so closely to mine.

“There IS a secret to happiness. There IS a secret to success. There IS a secret to excellence. What’s ironic is that it’s no big secret. Remember these three words, make them your life mantra and you will be unstoppable. Are you ready? Okay, here goes.

PRIORITIZATION, CONSISTENCY and ACCOUNTABILITY.” -Ro

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