Introduction
A Wise Man
A wise man once said, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is the collection of daily habits that get you there.” Most people have a vision for who they want to be, where they want to go, and what they want to achieve. They have aspirations of doing great things and are inspired by them. In their euphoria, they tell their friends, family and followers their ambitions to attaining their goals believing that a set goal is what separates them from where they want be versus where they are.
Lofty Goals
Due to this misconception, they will set lofty goals with intense daily schedules, cramming as much work in to get there as fast as possible. DAY 1, complete. DAY 2, complete. DAY 3, complete. DAY 4, long day at work, day off. DAY 5, kids had soccer practice, day off, DAY 6, kids have a music concert, day off. DAY 7, realization that your daily schedule is not compatible with your life, QUIT. For anybody that has attempted at changing the course of their lives, you can probably relate. This is the most common result for the average individual. Quitting due to the lack of time, too much work, exhaustion or burnout. Their idea of the process of success is, the larger the goal, the larger the workload. The larger the workload, the faster I get there. Although the daily schedules of the most successful people in the world are consumed with work, for someone whose life is not adjusted to that intensity, the path to get there is by doing less not more.
Microwave Mentality
Microwave Mentality
Most people do not understand the gradual process that comes with success. Todays society has successful people call, a “microwave mentality”. Peoples whose lives are consumed with sources of instant gratification. Today, sources of instant gratification surround us, including social media, alcohol, microwavable food, followers and likes, the list goes on. Our lives have been consumed by a quick and easy way out developing a cultural mentality that lacks patience.
Today, people cannot even fathom spending 6 months working on a project. Todays culture prioritizes speed, and anything that does not comply with such is “instantly” discarded. The truth is, whether its success or developing a new lifestyle, anything great comes with a consistent and lengthy process. This may sound intimidating, but this is where the concept of small habits, big results stems from.
Compound effect
Exponetnial Choices
A long journey towards achievement is not a linear process, it is rather exponential. It is a gradual process in which the longer a habit is consistently practiced, the more adjusted you become. Therefore being able to practice with more intensity. This gradual process of a small habit evolving to a larger one over time is often referred to as compounding. This was a concept developed by seasoned entrepreneur Darren Hardy, who calls it the compound effect. As he describes it, the compound effect is the principle of reaping huge results from a process of small, smart choices. Seemingly small, insignificant changes, consistently compounded overtime can lead to an evolution of massive results.
The Penny That Doubles
You can look at this process as a penny that’s doubles in value everyday for 31 days. You start off with a penny on day 1. On day five your penny is now worth 16 cents. On day 10, it is worth $5.12. After 20 full days, it is only worth $5,243 with only 11 days left. But this is where the magic of the compound effect takes place. Astoundingly, on day 29, the same penny is now worth $2.7 million with 2 days left. And finally on day 31, the penny is now worth over $10 million. That is how the compounding principle of consistently sticking with small habits work. For the first 20 days, the penny was only able to grow $5,000. But within the last 10 days, the penny was able to grow from$5,000 to $10 million dollars.
IceCube Theory
Let’s look at another situation. You have an ice cube on the able and are trying to find out at what temperature the ice cube melts. You start off at 26 degrees and increase the temperature incrementally. At 27 degrees, ice does not melt. At 28 degrees, ice does not melt. Furthermore ice does not melt as 29, 30 and 31 degrees. Finally, the ice starts to melt at 32 degrees. A fixed minded individual will look at this situation and believe that ice melts at 32 degrees. But for someone who understands that small, insignificant changes equate to radical results, they will understand that ice melts from the accumulation of 26 to 32 degrees. In life, growth is exponential. Small habits seem insignificant for a while, but when practiced religiously, attain interest which adds up to create a radical difference in the end.
Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE
Implementing Small Changes
Creating a Change
Now let’s talk about implementing small changes. Again, the key word for growth is small. Starting habits and changes with maximum effort will only lead to quitting or burnouts. The point is the understand that the long process of change will start off as a 5 min routine, that evolves to 10 min, then 20 min, then 40 min, then 2 hours a day. But in order to get to a 2 hour daily habit, you must first start off is a 10 min habit that can be easily attained everyday. Darren hardy stated, “easy things are hard, because they are easy not to do”. The point is to find small changes that are so easy to do, that is borderline impossible to skip. By executing change in this manner, as consistency is key. Running for 2 hours does not make you fit. Running 10 minutes everyday for 1 year makes you fit. Growth only comes through consistency. Having changes so small that they are unavoidable, creates the consistency needed to allow time for that habit to grow.
Planting Seeds
You can look at this principle as growing a seed. When you first plant a seed, the the plant is nonexistent. You water it for a week, and nothing happens. Same in 2 weeks. Then same in a month. You water the seed everyday with little to no change until that second month. A plant starts to emerge. And as that plant emerges, it starts to grow, it grows bigger and bigger and bigger. Habits are the same way. They take a lot of patient cultivating everyday to see even the slightest result. But when those results arise, they grow at a faster rate than you could every believe. The key is planting seeds, understanding that they start small and may require a lot of watering, but through consistency will grow exponentially.The power of one small habit should not be underestimated for consistency results in a ripple effect. The reason why so many successful individuals highlight micro habits, is because they understand its relationship with all of the other aspects of your life.
Momentum
A common theme amongst successful individuals is a good morning routine. A good morning routine is one of the most important aspects of their lives because it is a foundation that creates momentum. A good morning routine is religiously practiced because a win will often lead to more wins, call it a ripple effect. There is a saying in the Bible that states, “For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” It is a pessimistic saying, but a quote that reflects momentum. For those who win, they will win more. For those who lose, they will lose more. That is very true when it comes to a morning routine. When you work out in the morning, it motivates you to eat healthy. When you eat healthy, it motivates you to pick up a book. When you pick up a book, it motivates you to work harder. That is the power of small habits and exponential growth. Small wins lead to consistency, which leads to momentum, which leads to more wins. But every change, first fundamentally starts out with a single small habit.
Goals & Systems
The two key elements of success are goals and systems. Goal are what set direction, systems are how we get there. Goals are important to set direction, but mean nothing without the right system to move you there.
Goals
First we will start with goals. The idea is to create a goal within a time frame that is hard to reach. This is important because it creates urgency. Without urgency, you are a feather in the wind. Lack of urgency means lack of consistency and lack of consistency means no growth. These goals should be hard to reach, but also attainable. This comes with self awareness of your situation and your capabilities. The point of a goal that is hard to reach, is not about reaching higher levels faster, but as a means to build the right urgency to always keep you on your toes.
Systems
Saying that, although your goals should be hard to reach, your systems should be the opposite. It may sound hypocritical, but let me explain. Whether is it about creating small habits or urgency, everything is about consistency. Without consistency, goals and systems are meaningless. When it comes to consistency, implementing systems that are easily doable are of upmost importance. If you make your systems as hard as your goals, you will ultimately burnout and quit. In creating the right systems, you should have a relative understanding that your growth will come in stages. It will first start with easy, doable habits, but will gradually get more intense as you become more adept to do so.
Weekly/Monthly Progress
Personally, I believe the best way to do so, is by creating a system with increments of 2 weeks and months. Your overall goal should be around 6 months or a year, but your systems should be a bi weekly and monthly basis. Your bi weekly status is meant to keep track of the small wins in order to maintain motivation. On the other hand, monthly status is meant to keep track of process. For example, if your monthly goal is to lose 4 pounds, your bi weekly goal should be 2 pounds. Setting bi weekly and monthly goals will help in the long run. Every goal is a journey of many steps. When you focus on the total number of steps it takes to get there, the process becomes too overwhelming. By breaking the goal down into small sectors, you will prolong your motivation and discipline. Many people underestimate the power of small objectives, but that is the premise of exponential growth.
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