Yup, Jim died in a twisted lab experiment that attempted to prove that frogs can die from slow gradual heating (don’t try this at home, I don’t want to have PETA chasing me. Plus, it might only be a legend).

Regardless of if you heard that story before or not, let me tell you a few deceitful ways that the same slow and painful death could await you. And more importantly what to do to prevent it.

But first let me explain to you the most important concept about life hacking. A concept that totally changed my life and the life of the most inspirational people around me.

The Compound Effect of Your Life Habits

You probably already know the compound interest effect in finance. Well did you know that a very similar effect could be applied to your own life?

Brought to its simplest form, your life is a string of habits with a bit of random events sprinkled in. And whether you like it or not, you are the only one responsible for your happiness.

As the book Slight Edge explained it so well, there is a compound effect to your habits.

Let me give you 2 detailed examples that you’ll probably relate to since they cover the most important aspects of your life:

• Your Health
• Your Happiness

For each one I’ll give you a few examples and a takeaway in honor of our departed frog friend.

Boiling Frog #1: Your Health Habits

The most common health problems

I have a quick confession to make: I really like Boston Cream donuts.

I mean I love them. A lot. I use to eat boxes of 6, alone, when I was a teen (yup, that’s nasty).

Two donuts probably wouldn’t kill me right now. But if I took 2 Boston Cream per day (620 cal, 32g of saturated fats, 78g of carbs, 6g protein), every single day at the worst time of the day, I’d get fat pretty quickly. That 620cal extra calories represents a ±30% bump in the caloric intake of the average person, of which the sources are mainly saturated fats and unhealthy carbs.

At this point let’s just call it a highway to obesity.

That’s especially true considering that the higher your sugar consumption is, the higher your sugar addiction is.

The intensity of sugar addiction is often compared to heroin.

That reinforces even more our explanation of the compound effect of habits.

Even worst, research has proven that the long term effects of a high sugar diet are even more catastrophic. Here are a few just to give you an idea:

• Depression
• Weakened immune system
• Hypoglycemia
• Insomnia
• Kidney damage
• Headaches and migraines
• Deposits in the liver
• Increased risk of blood clots

That extra donut at Krispy Kreme doesn’t look so appealing now, uh?

Most people don’t consciously choose to be overweight or unhealthy. You don’t become this way overnight neither. You get to that deteriorating state by adopting a series of bad habits that you cumulate over time.

Slowly but surely, just like our friend Jimmy the Frog in the boiling water, those habits could have devastating effects on your life before you even notice it.

Solutions to be healthier

The good news is that the compound effect also works on the positive side. You can get to a point where your eating habits become so ingrained in your daily life and derogating from those habits isn’t really tempting. Cravings for cookies become cravings for kale (I’m experiencing those these days!), looking forward that TV night become looking forward an evening bike ride to enjoy the sunset, etc.

The #1 tip to eat better is simple: Shop “healthy” at the supermarket. That way, the only food available to you during your late night cravings is healthy. Problem solved! After all, it’s much more efficient to manage your diet than to manage your exercise:

Weight management is generally 75% diet and 25% exercise

Think about it, would you rather:

• eat those 2 donuts in 2 minutes and have to run 6 miles in about 1 hour and 30 minutes,
• or simply skip them, relax in front of the TV or your favorite book for 1h32min?

Pretty easy decision when you look at it this way, uh?

Jimmy the Frog’s Takeaway on Health:

1. The compound effect of your health habits could either kill you (literally) or bring you to the best shape of your life, so be extra careful.
2. Sugar is as addictive as heroin, stay away from it
3. You are what you eat. It’s A LOT easier to be healthy by eating well than trying to compensate with more exercise

Boiling Frog #2: Your Happiness

The most common unhappiness problem

Have you ever met people who seem to be constantly in a hustle, barely making it through every single day as if a dark cloud of unhappiness was constantly pouring on their head?

Have you ever noticed that those people seem to attract bad things?

If you could analyze the reasons behind those individuals’ misfortune, you’d probably notice a common pattern. They had a few problems, they focused on them too much and those negative feelings became omnipresent dark clouds of despair.

Again, the boiling frog analogy is crucial here. No matter what you do, do not let those smaller problems gradually creep up to you, or else, by the time you realize it, it will be too late.

Stop overthinking and take action: deal with them as they come. It’s the best way to approach life according to different researches in the field of happiness.

The wise words by Jim Rohn reinforce another very important concept behind happiness, I call it the “Golden Circle of 5”:

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
-Jim Rohn

Ask a very happy & successful person who they spend the most time with, it’s probably going to be very happy & successful individuals.

Similarly, if you grow up around West Chicago & Livernois Ave in Detroit (worst neighborhood of the top 10 most dangerous US cities), the odds are against you. As unfortunate as it is to say, your chances of having a drug dealer, a gang member and/or a drug-addict in your your “Golden Circle of 5” is considerably higher than someone living in the quiet neighborhood of Palo Alto, California.

Those are extreme scenarios, but the point is obvious: if you have the chance to live in a minimally decent environment, you have the incredible opportunity to structure your “Golden Circle of 5” with pretty much however you want.

Now that you know the magic (or horror) of the compound effect of habits and the boiling frog analogy, you know how important it is to choose carefully who should come in your circle.

Solutions to be Happier

Studies in the science of happiness have shown that 90% of your happiness is not predicted by the external world but by the way your brain processes the world, in other words: your life habits. Shawn Achor explains it very well in his TED talk about the “Happiness Advantage”:

Happiness therefore, should be considered an habit, not simply a state.

As counterintuitive as it may sound, it makes a lot of sense:

• your habits are the foundation of your paradigms (e.g.: you meditate every morning upon waking up for 5 minutes)
• those paradigms make you focus more on certain elements (e.g.: your meditation forces you to focus on the importance of the here and now)
• that focus, in return, triggers a reaction that makes you feel a certain way, which in turn can strengthen that habit (e.g.: focusing on the here and now relaxes you before jumping into your workday, which makes you feel more confident, which might make you more productive)

Several studies have confirmed that this virtuous loop can be applied in many different ways, including smiling. In fact, did you know that even when you’re not feeling extremely happy, having joyful thoughts and smiling about it can boost your happiness level and make you more productive?

Similarly, Dr. Amy Cuddy, a professor and researcher at Harvard Business School, explains very well how your body language shapes who you are and how happy you can be.

The Law of Attraction might be pop psychology, but it actually makes sense from a that point of view:

• Your habit to project positive thoughts forces you to think about positive things
• Those positive thoughts make you focus on what you want the most, making it easier for you to to notice and seize opportunities
• Seizing an opportunity makes you feel great and makes you want to apply even more that “Law of attraction”

Jimmy the Frog’s Takeaway on Happiness:

1. Choose carefully who’s in your “Golden Circle of 5”, after all, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.
2. Make happiness an habit, not a state.

What Are Your Thoughts on the Boiling Frog Syndrome?

Thanks to Jimmy the Frog (R.I.P.), you saw how the compound effect of your habits (the equivalent of the water slowly warming up) can have an either amazing or devastating effect on your life.

You also saw how this can be applied to your health, your happiness and your productivity on a daily basis.

Do you see other areas where that “boiling frog” analogy would make a lot of sense?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Or even better share this article on Twitter. Simply mention me (@DanBenoni) and let’s talk!