Compounding Our Exponential Potential
Life is a constant struggle. There are times when we excel and take two massive steps forward, but there are just as many moments that cause us to take multiple steps back. As a result, the choices we make daily can have incredible impacts on our future.
Like the stock market, our lives have their ups and downs, however it is in seeing the bigger picture that we can effectively focus on where we are going in the long term, rather than reacting in the short term to day-to-day fluctuations.
Therefore, it comes down to the compounding power of our choices over weeks, months, and years that ultimately determine the outcome of our lives.
Compounding Our Exponential Potential
In today’s digital age, information, no matter how old or how buried, is accessible to anyone at any time. As a result, one of the most interesting things to do is take the time to dig into the past of someone you believe is successful. If they are a successful writer, read their first paper. If they are a famous movie star, watch the first movie they ever starred in. If they are a billionaire today, find out how much they had when they were in high school.
No matter who’s past you decide to look up, the common theme in nearly every billionaire, movie star, or writer is that they weren’t always a success. However, overtime the choices they made and the actions they took turned them into one. That is how we compound our exponential potential.
Consistently striving to do better and be better, is what enables us to enhance our lives over the long term.
Nevertheless, it is always important to understand that compounding failures are also a possibility. In the same way that successful people utilize compounding’s potential to better themselves, so too can those that choose the opposite utilize compounding’s potential to worsen themselves.
Valuing Discipline
It may be obvious to many that we are the products of the decisions we make. However, a vast majority of people do not understand how they can consistently make better choices over the long haul.
The key in doing so hinges solely on the value of discipline. In harnessing this principle, we can internalize the process of making better choices, by forcing ourselves to make the necessary sacrifices to attain success. This means choosing what is right, not what is easy.
As a result, staying true to the goals we set for ourselves will compound our ability to set new ones in the future. In addition, as our discipline strengthens, we will be better able to resist the temptations of short-term pleasures that thwart our long-term success.
Discipline compounded over a lifetime is what leads to a life well lived.
Enduring Vigilance
Although we will strive to make the best choices possible, we are not infallible. It is all too easy to fall off our path, give in to the temptations all around us, and slowly lose our way. Therefore, it is imperative that we remain vigilant as time progresses. When necessary, we must have the discipline to course correct and do what we can to “right the ship,” before too much damage is done.
Choices, no matter how small or insignificant they may appear, can compound over time and either lead us to success or to despair.
Either way, the choice is firmly in our hands.
Originally published at https://freedomsreach.com on June 24, 2019.
