How often do you think about compound interest?

If not compound interest, then what about compound effort?

History has it that Albert Einstein once said, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. Those who understand it, earn it… those who don’t, pay it.”

While compound interest might be the eighth wonder of the world, compound effort is not very far behind—perhaps the ninth or tenth wonder of the world.

The wonderful thing about compound effort is that unlike compound interest, which is limited to finance, it can be applied to any area of your life.

The problem or challenge with compound effort, like its close cousin compound interest, is that you can rarely feel or see any measurable results in the early stages. And because you can’t see any results, you’re more likely to discard your efforts before they take root. Consider the acorn that has the potential to become an oak tree. If you had never seen an oak tree, then it would be difficult to fathom that such a small seed could one day become such a magnificent tree.

Another challenge with compound effort is that you rarely see a fixed or linear rate of return. In fact, your return or results are almost guaranteed to fluctuate between times when you feel like you’re making progress and times when you feel as though you’re standing still or, even worse, moving backward.

It’s when you feel as though you’re not making any progress that requires you to have faith. I know faith is an esoteric concept, and if you’re a hard-charging, A-type personality, then it’s difficult to wrap your brain around something as squishy as faith. But I can almost guarantee you that if you exert effort in any area of your life, then deep down, you have faith that it will yield results.

So, take Einstein’s advice and learn to understand the benefits of compound effort. When you begin to use the power of effort over time to change or improve any area of your life, you’ll eventually be able to reap the fruits of your labor.

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