A Brief Primer on the Compound Effect
I've shared before that both ancient and modern history can agree on this: the compound effect can either build you or kill you. That more and more importance is placed on a decision the more and more you repeat it. And the more you repeat something, the greater the value is of the first step.
If you are in a long-term relationship, then the value of that first date is great.
If you are in excellent physical shape, then the value of that first workout is great.
If you are the founder of a successful company, then the value of that first board meeting is great.
Not only can these decisions have positive effects, ancient wisdom also reveals with aplomb that small steps in the same direction can have negative ramifications as well. In nineteenth-century philosophical theologian Franz Brentano's work On the Several Senses of Being in Aristotle, he discusses how small errors compound:
“What is at first small is often extremely large in the end. And so it happens that whoever deviates only a little from truth in the beginning is led farther and farther afield in the sequel, and to errors which are a thousand times as large.”
Repetitions are a fascinating illustration of great initial value and compound interest.
Find a good thing. And repeat it for the long haul. That first step will continue to compound.
Conversely, if you find a bad thing and repeat it for the long haul, that first step will continue to compound, too.
The compound effect can either build you or kill you. Ultimately, though, you decide.