I wish I had read this when I was eighteen!

Oh if only I had read this book when I was thirty!  Oh man, what if I had read it when I was twenty-five ... or even eighteen!  Why did I have to wait until I was forty-six years young to read it?  Maybe because it wasn't published yet?  Perhaps because "the student wasn't ready"?  But what an incredible, life changing, goal increasing, potential maximizing book it is!

Hopefully at this point you are saying in your head (not out-loud, people will stare) "Just tell me the name of the darn book Tubby!"  Well, here it is ... "The Compound Effect" by Darren Hardy.  You really do need to read this book.  It is an easy read and the concept is so simple anyone can understand it.  Unfortunately, most people won't put it into practice.  But what other people do or don't do doesn't matter to you ... only what you do matters.

It really is a simple concept and applicable in all parts of your personal and professional life.  You have unlimited choices and imagination ... but you have limited time.  The weird thing is we each have the same day in front of us: 24 hours = 1,440 minutes; and the same year: 365 days = 525,600 minutes!  But what each of us does with this time is vastly different.  Some of us will choose to watch TV ... others will read an educational book (sorry Daniel Steel, Sidney Sheldon, etc.).  Some of us will choose to sit at a bar stool and have another beer ... but others will go for a walk or a run.  I understand that you have to have balance in your life, variety is great ... but consuming only junk food and junk novels will make for a junky life!

So you are thinking "okay, okay Tubby ... but where does the 'compound effect' come in?"  Well, each of your actions builds off the last action, those actions can make you stronger, smarter ... yes EVEN SEXIER! (Maybe).  Here are two analogies to help you understand the compound effect:

1. Bank Account: You put money in (say $1000; which is on loan to the bank); they agree to pay you interest (let's say 12% annually).  At the start of the second month your balance is the total of the original deposit ($1,000) and the interest (12%/12 months X $1000 = $10).  Your balance has grown to $1,010 in just one month!  The bank also agrees to pay you interest on your balance which now includes the interest they just paid to you ... hence "Compound Interest".  Over the course of 12 months (assuming you don't add any more of your own money) your balance becomes: $1,127.  You might have done the math in your head and calculated a balance of $1,120.  But through the magic of the compound effect you end up with more that what you are expecting!  Over forty years, that $1,000 becomes $93,000!
2. In my profession we actual sell time.  And time, unlike money can't be saved and used tomorrow. If you don't sell an available hour today - POOF! IT'S GONE!  Let's say I am trying to sell an eight hour workday for $100 per hour.  If I sell all eight hours the revenue will be $800!  But if I only sell four then my revenue is only $400.  Some people might think 'well you can just sell more tomorrow!'   NO!  I've only got eight hours to sell tomorrow too, but to get even I need to sell twelve!  Over the course of a year I have the ability to sell $200,000 worth of time (2,040 work hours x $800).  But if I don't take my available time seriously and only sell half my time then I will only sell $100,000 per year.  Over a forty year career that is a $4 MILLION DOLLAR mistake!  (Put that extra $100,000 per year into the savings account in the previous example and you have an $80 MILLION MISTAKE!)

As Darren says in his book "there is one thing that 99 percent of 'failures' and 'successes' have in common -- they all hate doing the same things.  The difference is 'successful' people do them anyway."  Please read his book, apply the philosophy to a little corner of your life and see how you can have a positive compound effect on your future!    As Lao Tzu said "the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"; take that step today, begin your journey!