Small, consistent actions build up over time to yield huge results. This is true with all of the modifiable lifestyle factors. Every single good decision you make in regards to sleep, diet, exercise, relationships, and mindset is a deposit in your optimal health account. An optimal health account is a bank account of sorts. You can make deposits, you can make withdrawals, but if you spend more than you deposit, you end up with poor health.
But on the other hand, if you make more deposits than withdrawals, then you are on the path to true health in all areas of your life. Of course, if you only make deposits and never make withdrawals, you get there faster, right? However, this isn’t practical or sustainable. We are talking about forever change here, and it doesn’t have to be fast. With more deposits than withdrawals you are moving in the right direction.
If you had the choice of one cent doubled every day for 30 days OR one million dollars, which would you choose? No cheating by using Google or even a calculator. At first glance, the answer appears obvious, you take the million dollars. But with a question like this, when the answer seems so clear, you always know there must be a trick. The answer can’t be that apparent. If you are skeptical, you are right. One penny doubled every day for 30 days turns out to be over 5 million dollars. Isn’t that astounding? This is the compound effect, and it is true for your health too.
When you start implementing lifestyle changes, it often doesn’t seem like much in the beginning. Like the penny—one cent, two cents, four cents, eight cents—it seems as if you are getting nowhere! But when you don’t give up, when you keep going, keep depositing, keep trusting the process, it eventually works. You have to stick with it. By day 18 the penny is worth $1,310.72. OK, we are starting to see some traction, but we certainly aren’t ready to quit our day job with that kind of money. But if you don’t give up and keep going, by day 27 you are at over half a million, and by day 30, it’s over 5 million dollars.
Some of these lifestyle changes take more than 30 days to really see the benefit, but you get the point. This is the long game. It’s like saving for retirement. Starting as early as possible is the best bet. But later is always better than never, and it’s never too late. This is the ripple effect. The ripple effect is the continuing and multiplying of the results of an event or action, and it is huge!
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
P.S — In my book, The Path of Intention: 5 Habits to Optimize Your Health and Live A Life You Love, I and Nathan Long show you how to discover YOUR path that leads you to a life of fulfillment and optimal health.
In The Path of Intention, you learn:
- How to create the life of your dreams and how to discover optimal health
- How to live your best life now, instead of waiting for retirement, when the kids are grown, or when life slows down
- How to optimize the five habits of health, which are the secrets to longevity
- Actionable steps to meet you where you are in each of the five areas and level up your health by implementing one small change at a time
- How small, consistent actions today are like deposits in your health and wellness bank account that will yield a lifetime of physical and mental freedom
Download The Path of Intention Workbook.
