The MAGIC of Incremental Improvement
If We Could Accept Progress Step-by-Step
Popular self-help books promote the idea that if we can switch our thinking, we will live lives of abundance (attraction theory, self- affirmations). Things will magically click and we’ll be happy bazillionaires!
Honestly, that’s not the way things work. Sure, you may have spurts of success here and there, but to really see solid growth you need to accept that incremental gains through consistent steps toward your goal are where there are magical-compound results.
Compounded Gains
Finance people and investment advisors have been talking about the benefits of compounded growth. If you’ve missed it, here’s a quick overview.
If you invested just $100 and added only $5 a month for 5 years while earning a measly 4% compound interest, you’d end up with a jaw-dropping 447% increase. If you had instead invested $5 a month (after your initial $100 investment) in an ETF such as Vanguard’s S&P, You would have $637.60 after 16.86% annual compound growth. (This return is as of 9/30/2021 and accounts for that massive dip in March 2020.) Now, imagine if you had invested $1,000, initially, and added $50 a month. You’d have $6,376!
Most often, we see similar results after we direct consistent effort toward other goals in our life.
Unexpected Gifts
When we take one step and then another, consistently, we compound our progress toward miraculous gains!
Consistency is the key. One step at a time.
We hate it because that’s not the message we get from best-selling books and seminars. Yet, this is how people grow impressive nest eggs. This is how people declutter without suffering trauma because they let go too soon a sentimental memento or family heirloom. Sure, there are stories of seemingly overnight successes; but what we usually don’t hear and see are the months if not years of consistent action. The same holds true for today’s bitcoin millionaires.
Steps repeated consistently over time will yield unexpected gifts. Actually, they are expected because we’ve worked consistently toward them. They’re UNexpected when the magic of compound growth results from small steps taken repeatedly to build upon the earlier ones.
Whether decluttering or building something awesome, it takes time and dedicated effort. Consider the awesome beauty of this medieval castle built using old-style workmanship that now attracts visitors from around the world.
Dario Sattui’s all-consuming passion to build “13th century Tuscan castle winery to honor his Italian heritage and deep love for medieval architecture” began in 1994. He completed the Castello di Amorosa 15 years later. It was his labor of love.
