How To Develop Positive Compounding Habits As A Leader

By: Jon Dwoskin

When you hear the word “compounding,” you might think of interest rates and stock accounts, but in fact, it can neatly sum up how you live your life. Albert Einstein is said to have called compound interest the “most powerful force in the universe.” From my perspective, the things we do every day — both the productive and the destructive actions — compound over time to put us exactly in our current position.

Is this compounding effect giving your business what it wants and needs? Or are you stuck in bad habits that might seem trivial but are, in fact, compounding daily?

Around 40% of our actions are automatic. That means nearly half the time, we’re on auto-pilot. As Neeraj Agnihotri noted in the book Procrasdemon: The Artist’s Guide to Liberation From Procrastination, “Habits stay with you even when you don’t have the motivation.”

Some habits might have served you well at one time, but you’ve simply outgrown them or they are no longer relevant in your life. When is the last time you took a good, hard look at the habits that are running your life? Here’s how to start:

Analyze your daily routine.

Take a few minutes to do a deep dive into your daily rituals. What are your good habits? What are your bad ones? Give it some serious thought over the next few days, and keep a list that details both your positive and negative habits. This is where reaching out to your business coach and/or mentor can be invaluable, as they can bring fresh eyes to things you might not even notice anymore.

Develop a laser focus.

Zero in on those good habits — the ones you have down pat as well as the ones you’d like to adopt — and determine exactly how you will implement them into your day and your overall calendar. Let’s say you’ve decided that you could use more time to simply sit and reflect, rather than constantly being stuck in reaction mode. Add 10 minutes to your calendar each day to do exactly that.

Think you don’t have the time? Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier. It’s an easy habit to cultivate.

I like the way Warren Buffett put it: “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business.”

Take one step at a time.

Do you make 10 sales calls each and every day? What would happen if you started making 11? Compound that extra daily call to the week, the month, the quarter and the year, and watch how it adds into extra accounts and dollars.

Don’t believe it? Consider the lowly penny. Double that single cent every day for 31 days, and it compounds to $10.7 million. Just like that penny, start small.

Measure up.

Think about one of your good habits and track its evolution. Let’s say it takes 20 “touches” (emails, phone calls, social media postings, etc.) to convert a prospect into a client. Over the lifetime of that client, what do those 20 touches compound into? Use that quantitative perspective as motivation to keep those good habits going.

Slow down.

Often in the zeal to better ourselves, we try to do too much too soon. We set impossible goals and then get discouraged when we don’t see immediate results. Instead, lower your bar and make realistic goals — then embrace follow-up, consistency and persistence.

Maybe you know you need to up your marketing efforts to not only reach new clients, but to also stay in front of your current ones. Thinking of all the options — such as blogging, newsletters, Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram — can be so overwhelming you might end up paralyzed and doing nothing. Instead, get the ball rolling with one platform. As you become more effective and confident, you can start to build a social media rhythm that’s easy to expand.

Be realistic.

Remember, you’re playing the long game here. Rather than try to sprint into a new you, take small, incremental steps. Do the things that are manageable every day because that is how you will build (compound) success. It all comes down to continuity and consistency. That is how things compound over time.

And be patient with yourself. A 2009 study published in The European Journal of Social Psychology found it takes between 18 and 254 days to form a habit and an average of 66 days for a behavior to become automatic.

I believe a quote famously attributed to former politician and olympian Jim Ryun sums it up well: “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Remember, if changing your habits were easy, everyone would be doing it.

So think big. Jon Dwoskin