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Continuing on from last time, I wanted to address the concern that developing your inner resources will take some time. It is true, real and effective improvement does take time. Probably a lot of time. You will probably be working on improving yourself all your life. That’s not as bad as it sounds. Imagine what would happen if you suddenly got all the inner techs you ever wanted. First of all, that doesn’t really work because you don’t know what you want next until you have already made some progress. But for the sake of discussion, let’s try it out. Suddenly, you have all the discipline, clarity, awareness, and wisdom you could ever want. Now what? See, it would be the same if you were to start playing a game and as soon as you make a move, you win. Where’s the fun? What’s the point? This is why cheat codes in video games are so insidious. They will let the player amp up to where they are unstoppable. Once the challenge is gone, what happens to the game? It’s played briefly, and then forgotten. That game could have been the game of the year or the decade, but it will still be forgotten because it was robbed of the proper level of challenge. For another example to demonstrate the same idea, imagine that someone is going hunting and the moment that they step into the hunting ground someone comes up, drops off freshly killed game and says “nicely done”. There’s no point if there’s no challenge. Granted, the hunting thing could be useful if you need to fill the freezer, but that’s beside the point.
One of the views of the world, that I adopt, is to think of it as a giant game. I have other views that I take, that the world is a school, for example. When you look at the quest for self-development through that mode, you will see that the quest is perfectly synced and balanced. Every breakthrough, every learned tech is used by you later on to get to the next level. Be it a school or a game or something in-between, when you work on yourself what you learn now will help you down the line. As you keep adding tools to your inner toolbox, and as you learn more and more who you really are inside, you will find that changes and challenges that would have stopped you cold at the beginning are now almost nothing to you. This is what I mean when I use the term “existential compound interest”.
First, a primer on the wonders of compound interest. If you are familiar with the joys (or sorrows) of compound interest, feel free to skip ahead to the next paragraph. Let’s use money as an example, because that is where compound interest is used most often. Say you invest $1000 at 15% interest. Here is how the returns on that investment will be after each year:
- 1150
- 1322
- 1520
- 1749
- 2011
- 2313
- 2660
- 3059
- 3517
- 4045
A long time, you say? You haven’t had to touch that money, and it’s already more than four times bigger. Imagine if you had been paying into it all that time. But look at the last year on our example. In that year, it earned in interest half of what you put in in the first place. In just a few of more years, it would have been paying out the original investment every year, while still producing extra to keep it growing! Of course, this is a simple example, and doesn’t take into account various factors in investing, but it serves the purpose of showing what compound interest can do for you if you get it on your side. Many of us already know what can happen when compound interest is working against us. Bear in mind, for example, that many credit cards have rates at 15% or higher and have balances in excess of $1000. Credit is a powerful tool, but must be respected as such. But I digress.
Getting back to the concept of compound interest applied to self-development: When you are starting out it may not seem like much is happening at first, but keep with it. Keep your eyes on your path for now. Later on, look back at where you came from. Then look to the future. A few years ago, I was in a bad relationship, and could not figure out how to keep money. Most good that came into my life flowed out like a sieve. When I look to the present, I see that I have far greater control of my finances, that the bills are getting paid off at an astonishing rate, and that despite it all, I am not wanting for doodads. The same can be said of all aspects of my life. My compound interest is paying off. And what’s beautiful for both me and you is that when we start to see it pay off, we just keep working to keep it going. Ultimately, it’s the journey that is what’s important. Enjoy your journey and watch it pay off.
