A recent post I shared on igniting the compound Effect in your life was pretty well received so I thought this post would be a fitting follow up. (I’ll add a link to that post at the bottom in case you missed it and want to read it).
Once again it was inspired by the person who wrote The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy, because one of his recent video messages I watched really struck a chord with me. Can you tell I like the content he creates? đ
In the short video clip Darren recounted the story of his grandmother helping him to set up his very first bank account- he emptied his pockets and handed all the cash he had over the bank counter (thinking the bank cashier was going to take it away from him). In return he was given a passbook with the entry of that first deposit written in at the top of the page. Seeing that figure of $23.12 the young Darren thought to himself, âIâm sure I can get that number higherâ. And so began his life long obsession for making entries into his âpassbookâ as evidence of growth. What started with a simple mechanism for tracking his banking deposits spread over into all areas of life – the continuous desire to take action towards something then measure and track the progress. So simple yet so powerful. Â
The story resonated with me so much because I can still remember my version of this – it must have been from about aged 8 or so when I had my first account with Clydesdale Bank. I can vividly remember the feeling of visiting the rural Aberdeenshire branch to deposit my hard earned money and savings. You would typically have to queue behind various chatter boxes, it was a high ceiling building that had a musty smell and when the cashier stamped the cheques and payslips the sound echoed heavily around the room. And just like Darren, the young me got immense satisfaction from depositing money and seeing the number get higher. Iâm sure you itâs the same for many of you.
Whilst passbooks seem very much a thing of the past, funnily enough I managed to find one my own original passbooks from a Kent Reliance Building Society account that I had. This is where I saved up earnings from summer work that ultimately went towards buying my very first Buy-To-Let in 2007. You see, these passbook thingys do work đ
As with Darren, my own desire for tracking and measuring progress has spread over into many other important areas of life from business activity to health and family. And whilst the bank balance hasnât grown to anywhere near that of Darren Hardyâs, the habits Iâve created of tracking and measuring have been instrumental in helping me achieve some satisfying milestones within my property businesses so far. These days the progress is mostly tracked and measured inside a small A5 journal called the Self Journal (youâll see two of my journals in the cover image). Whatâs even more meaningful about these little blue journals is that they are designed and created by two amazing people I met when they were at the beginning of their journeys – Kathryn Lavery and Allen Brouwer. You guys are awesome and Iâll take this opportunity to let you know how much I and others appreciate your work.
If youâve heard the Young Entrepreneur Peter Voogd speak, he regularly says, âThe best way to predict someoneâs next 6 months is to look at their last 6 months…because HABITS trump inspiration, talent and ambition.â Â This is exactly what weâre talking about with Darrenâs banking passbook – that passbook is a metaphor for tracking the important the important habits in our lives that make big things happen. I know many of you reading this will have heard a similar kind of message before, but are you actioning it?
I hope that sharing this story and the passbook metaphor will kick start the beginning of a renewed obsession for you. Even if for just one person. You see, itâs not so much about growing money (that will come as a bi-product), rather itâs about growing progress in any area of life that you want to improve in. How about you challenge yourself to also become obsessed with growth, and get yourself a âpassbookâ of sorts to track your progress. If youâre up for it, share here what is the first thing youâre going to track, monitor or measure in your passbook.
CLICK HERE to read the post on Igniting the Compound Effect