Looking on the Other side of The Compound Effect

Tony Gwynn was the all-time best hitter in baseball when he was inducted into the baseball hall of fame in 2007. In 2014, Tony died of salivary gland cancer.

That is after 3 decades of using chewing tobacco.

The thing is, the cancer didn’t show up for years. Tony had a habit of using the tobacco and felt non the worse for wear.

But as Darren Hardy tells us in The Compound Effect, “small, seemingly insignificant steps completed consistently over time will create a radical difference.”

You usually read those words to push in the positive direction. The part that most people don’t think about is that this principle works in BOTH directions, positive and negative.

Alas, for Tony, he felt the negative impact of his actions for 30 years and it brought him to an early end.

You need to think about the actions you take every day because of exactly that: your actions COMPOUND.

If you repeatedly hold yourself back, you limit your potential, just as the one who steps in expands her potential.

Both sides of the equation work.

For me, I am constantly battling with maintaining my environment. I have plenty of space. Space isn’t the issue. Tools are not the issue. What IS the issue is taking the time each day to repeat systems that lead to control and maintenance of my environment.

Knowing on an intellectual level how to do something vs. ACTUALLY doing it are two completely different skills. Knowing doesn’t achieve the goal. Only DOING moves me in the direction of achievement.

It’s the small, seemingly insignificant steps of clearing my desk off at the end of the day and putting my papers away and closing out the computer files and resetting everything that will lead to my success.

Those actions will enable me to feel like I am in control, give me a clear space to create my work, and present an organized environment to me to do my work.

If I don’t do these actions, I will end up like Tony Gwynn, not with salivary gland cancer, but as a person with so much to give to the world stifled by my own lack of control.

So if you, like me, have big dreams you want to achieve, take the time to set yourself up for success.

DO the things you KNOW to be necessary to create the success you desire.

And you too will blow it out of the ballpark!