The Compound Effect

Spring break is always a time to relax and have fun. Although I spent a lot of time with my friends, I started reading something different.

I began reading "The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy" that I found in my parent's library. Although this book is about how to grow your success financially, most of these skills can also help with success in health. I would like to share some parts of this book that are very important and can keep us motivated on our journey of improving our health.

Many teenagers and adults in our modern society want to see immediate results and are too lazy to work hard for them. Many people sit like couch potatoes eating popcorn in front of their television and watch ads on how a product can give them skinny thighs in a month. Usually, these products just leave people with less money in their pockets. It is important for everyone, including me, to learn that we have to work hard for the results we want and that we cannot get them by simply pressing a button, like many other things in society these days. I remember one of my close friends telling me that my idea of a healthy life seemed too difficult. So now, I want to share the importance of the compound effect. This graph above showed me that it can take up to 27 months of wise choices, good behavior, and a healthy habit to yield the results we all dream of. Although 27 months is a long time, the effect will eventually kick in and it will bring massive results. These wise choices can just be observing and being conscious of what we are eating and understanding the impact it will have in the future.

While reading this portion of the book, I realized that my family went through a long period of struggle before we could successfully integrate a vegetable smoothie into our daily lives. It all started around 5 years ago when my dad came home from a Toastmasters class after listening to one of the members talking about a blender that made smoothies at home. My father thought that this was a great idea to make our family healthier and he quickly ran out to the store to buy us a blender. My whole family was extremely excited while making the first smoothie ever in our own home, only to discover that the result was disgusting and almost undrinkable. In fact, I remember my mother eating the smoothie with a spoon. It was more or a Chutney or Jam. After months of drinking this disgusting smoothie and complaining constantly, my whole family slowly got used to the taste, however, the consistency was still disgusting. My friend's mom told us about a great blender called Vitamix that can make velvety textured smoothies. Vitamix was exactly what my family needed, and after drinking the first smoothie we made with this machine, we knew that it had rightfully earned the top kitchen gadget spot in our family. Since that day we have been drinking vegetable and fruit smoothies daily and have grown to love them more and more. It took us more than 2 years of complaining and my tears before we started enjoying this part of our lives that filled each day with a little more energy.

As a long period of consistent good habits can improve the quality of your life, a long period of consistent bad habits can ruin it too. If you make a choice that may seem like it will not have a negative impact at the moment, it will add up exponentially. For example, if you decide to pick up dinner/lunch from a fast food place every day, you may feel like there is little to no impact on your weight and health. However, as time goes on and months pass, you will begin to see quick increases on your weight, a decrease in the amount of energy you have and more health issues. Also, please read my previous post on heart attack which clearly states how plaque adds up in our arteries over time and it does not just quick appear when you are an adult. It is important to throw out bad habits, no matter how small they may be, because these minor actions will total up to one huge negative impact.

In order to change, it is important to first be aware of your actions and acknowledge that there are certain things you need to improve. You need to own all of your actions before you can even begin to think of changing them. Although I had gotten a lot of help from my parents to improve my habits for healthy eating, I needed to understand that the fruits and vegetables I am eating are from my own health and benefit. We cannot blame our surroundings like parents, TV, school cafeteria. I believe that we are the hero and victim of our own decisions.

Small, Smart Choices+Consistency+Time=RADICAL DIFFERENCE

All of the small changes we make in life that seem insignificant will add up to create a radical difference in a long period of time. In health, these small changes could be drinking one green smoothie every morning or replacing your white spaghetti with vegetable/quinoa/edamame spaghetti. Success is the result of small, smart choices, completed consistently over time. Many people get frustrated when they do not see a change after a short period of time, however, it is important to keep working consistently and efficiently before we can begin to see a payoff. After you get used to these diet changes, you can start to take more baby steps to improve your quality of life even more.

As I continue to read this book, I will share more of my learnings with you all.