The Compound Effect

I have recently stumbled accross a new concept I read from twitter (yes, twitter) called the compound effect. The idea is simple, actions you do consistenly and in little dividends accumulate over a large period of time! The effect of these action may not be felt during the proccess it self, but are noticed once a significant period passes. This concept is pretty straightforward, but executing it is harder than it seems. This is because we tend to look for gratification for the things we do in the moment but are quick to give up when this gratification is not provided. why continue something if You are not seeing any results from it? Search for the next thing, and it will probably workout much better, right? You probably heard that consistency is key. Well, I find this to be very true, the more you stick with something, the more you will be rewarded for it in the long run.

Here are some example of habbits/skills that may not be rewarding in the moment but become an extremely valuable asset when you stick with it:

• Learning languages.
  • The first 6 months of learning a language is usually the most frustrating time for me. There are so many vocabulary and grammar rules you have learn and memorize. Putting it into action by speaking and listening is even more frustrating because it seems like you have not made any progress at all. However, every single day you spend as little as 15 minutes, have not gone to waste. It is being engrained in your muscle memory and one day it will ‘click’. For me, it can be a sudden moment of realization while I am speaking or reading, where my mind goes: ‘Wait, did I just suddenly improve? Why am I suddenly flowing’. You didnt just get better, its the little dividends you took every day that has buit up over time.
• Writing.
  • I am experimenting with writing as you can see. Although I dont think I am particularly good at writing, I consider English as my strongest language. Even more than my native language, arabic. I’m not going to lie, its a strange feeling when you’re native language is no where near as good as your secondary language. With that being said, I attribute my writing skills to all the days of practice I had in high school as you are forced to write essays. I also had significant help from teachers. Although my writing was quite bad in high school, its thanks to those days which helped elevate my writing 100%. Fastforward to uni, I am able to write academic level papers without much help. (I will post a seperate article on writing soon)

Long term consistency over short term intensity.