You’re probably asking yourself, what does A Compounding Life mean?
Simply put it’s harnessing the power of compound interest to your life via a relentless focus on the three pillars of Mindset, Wealth, and Health.
Some guy maybe you’ve heard of him, Albert Einstein, once said…
“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it…he who doesn’t, pays it.”
And
“The most powerful force in the world is compound interest.”
The concept of compound interest is rather simple, but it is usually thought of strictly in a financial sense. I believe the mechanism and benefits of compounding occur in other areas of life.
Applying this concept to not just to your Wealth but also to your Mindset and Health is when you harness the most power force in the world to your life and achieve your full potential
Together these three create a perpetual growth machine and accelerating feedback loop that propels your life upward and onward.
My Journey
My journey to applying the concept of compounding in all areas of my life did not happen all at once. I’d like to say there was one “Ah Ha” moment when a light bulb turned on and everything changed.
That is not quite how it happened because life is not linear. But every great story has a beginning, some series of events that sets forth in motion the protagonist on their quest to achieve greatness.
I was a typical 20-something moving through life the way I had been told:
- Go to college
- Get a good job after
- Work hard to climb the corporate ladder
- Move to the suburbs and buy a big house
- Repeat for 40 years and retire with maybe 10-20 good years left max
Sound familiar? If you have been or are on a similar path, laid out for you by others, you probably have that internal feeling, that disconnect that you aren’t reaching your full potential.
That constant voice in the back of your head that says “There’s got to more than this”. By implementing the principles of A Compounding Life is how you defeat that voice. You are building a life worth living, and only you can build it.
Wealth
Wealth can mean many things, and I think real wealth, is more than just $ in a bank account. But the wealth that I focus on is financial. Money is the tool to allow you to acquire assets that provide income, cash flow, and appreciation.
I learned early at an internship during college with a Wealth Management Firm about the importance of paying yourself first by saving >10% of your income. Because I started doing this at 22, the power of compounding has begun to take hold and in 2019 alone, my Net Worth increased by 73.7%, of which my investments increased by 50.7%.
Another critical juncture in my wealth journey was getting let go of my first job. Our business unit didn’t have the growth it had expected and as a non-selling resource, I was let go.
This was devastating at first because I placed my self-worth on my job, but I learned a valuable lesson. The 9-5 job that you pour your blood, sweat and tears into, and trust me I had some tears after 5 months of 80 – 90 hour work weeks during busy season for three consecutive years, will drop you at a moment’s notice.
You are an expendable resource and once your cost exceed the value you bring, you’re out the door.
The lesson was a hard one, but valuable because it taught me that you need to build multiple income streams. I am not saying a 9-5 is a bad thing, I have one now, but what I am saying is you’re very vulnerable if this is your only source of income.
So what did I do? I sought an opportunity to transition into a growing industry that pays well, while continuing to increase my savings rate by living below my means. Also, I purchased an investment property and placed some capital into a start-up that was within my network. Now, I have a six-figure income, a savings rate above 30%, have multiple streams of income, and equity in a profitable business.
But this is just the start, I am currently working on adding to my real estate portfolio and additional streams that scale, have zero marginal cost to reproduce, and are geography independent.
Health
I was always an active kid, played hockey and lacrosse in high school, but once out of college the demands of my first job, caused me to sacrifice my health and throughout my 20’s my commitment to my health was sporadic at best.
I’d fluctuate but at my worst I got up to 215 lbs, and at 6 feet tall I was overweight, lacked energy, and strength.
So what changed?
One day I literally told myself: “You are going to commit to getting in-shape and make it a priority”.
Then I took action and worked out. I did it again the next day, and the day after that. I consistently worked out 3-5 days a week and slowly but surely saw progress in how my clothes fit and how I looked in the mirror.
My progress compounded, working out got easier and at some point, I eagerly looked forward to it. Seeing my body transform from overweight to ripped made me realize that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.
There is another component to my health journey that dramatically increased my success, cooking.
I always liked to cook and was decent at it. By being able to cook for myself I could control what I put in my body to fuel it.
You can’t out work a bad diet; this is absolute fact.
A hidden benefit of cooking your own food is it’s cost effective. About 30-50% less than what you would pay to order/eat out. All that extra money gets saved and allocated to my investment accounts!
And if that didn’t convince you how amazing cooking is, it is a desirable skill to any potential mate.
Mindset
Your thoughts dictate your actions. Everyone is in a constant war with their mind, the internal and external negativity that tells you “you’re not good enough” or “not worthy” or “you’ll never amount to anything”.
This war is never fully won, but you can win the battle each day. Your mindset is a CHOICE, period. Either you choose a growth mindset based on curiosity, mental toughness, positivity, and improvement.
Or you choose a fixed mindset based on indifference, avoiding challenges, negativity, and low standards.
Your mindset becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. People who think they can improve and grow, often do.
My mindset was the last piece of the puzzle, I’d love to claim it was the first, but it really came together after my fitness took off, studied influential and successful people, and took consistent action.
Putting the three pillars of Mindset, Wealth, and Health together
Whichever comes first in your own journey, ensure to add to the others quickly. Just because you’re focused on one doesn’t mean to can’t improve in the other two areas. In fact, because they are interrelated, you will grow faster by attending to all three.
All three need to be implemented together, simultaneously, for you to realize the full benefit of compounding.
Think of your life as a tree. A tree with a single root won’t grow large and is vulnerable, but a tree with many roots will grow and is resilient.
By no means am I done or achieved anything, there is no end to A Compounding Life. But I have reached the point where I understand how all three pillars unite to feed of each other to create something great.
Life is not a zero-sum game and I believe that my success doesn’t restrict yours and vise versa.
I want as many people as possible to realize the power of creating A Compounding life. I hope you do after reading this.