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by
Darren Hardy
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February 25 - March 12, 2022
After 25+ years as the central curator of the success media industry, I’ve seen it all. Nothing works like the power of the Compound Effect of simple actions done right over time.
The complete 6+ hour audiobook of The Compound Effect Darren’s personal morning routine blueprint Darren’s favorite interviews with his mentors And much more. Access (for free) at: TheCompoundEffect.com/Resources
Your decisions shape your destiny. Little, everyday decisions will either take you to the life you desire or to disaster by default.
You see, success isn’t about doing five thousand different things well. Success is doing the right things well five thousand times over.
producer and publisher of SUCCESS magazine, Darren has sat at the center of the personal-development industry.
This book is that detailed, tangible plan of action. Let it shake up your expectations, eliminate your assumptions, ignite your curiosity, and bring value to your life—starting right now.
P.S. You can join the #BetterEveryDay movement at DarrenDaily.com.
more information, everyone with an internet connection would live in a mansion, have abs of steel, and be blissfully happy. You do not need new information—you need a new plan of action.
My parents divorced when I was eighteen months old, and my dad raised me as a single father. He wasn’t exactly the soft, nurturing type. He was a former university football coach and he hardwired me for achievement.
One of his philosophies was, “Be the guy who says ‘no.’ It’s no great achievement to go along with the crowd. Be the unusual guy, ‘Be The Exception’” (the inspiration for my company’s tagline today).
We’ve been hypnotized by commercial marketing, which convinces you of problems you don’t have and sells you on the idea of insta-fixes to “cure” them.
We’ve lost sight of the good, old-fashioned value of hard and consistent work.
The Compound Effect is the principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices.
Small, Smart Choices + Consistency + Time = RADICAL DIFFERENCE
We’ve been conditioned by society to believe in the effectiveness of a great display of massive effort.
The secret to success was then, and is now, hard work, discipline, and good habits.
Overwhelming abundance often leads to a lackadaisical mentality, which brings about a sedentary lifestyle. Children of the wealthy are especially susceptible. They weren’t the ones who developed the discipline and character to create the wealth in the first place,
Why? Because nothing fails like success. Once-dominant empires have failed for this very reason. People get to a certain level of success and get too comfortable.
Your biggest challenge isn’t that you’ve intentionally been making bad choices. Heck, that would be easy to fix. Your biggest challenge is that you’ve been sleepwalking through your choices.
We’re particularly gifted in the finger-pointing department when it comes to our romantic relationships—you know, where the other person is the one who needs to change.
“You have to be willing to give 100 percent with zero expectation of receiving anything in return,” he said. “Only when you’re willing to take 100 percent responsibility for making the relationship work will it work. Otherwise, a relationship left to chance will always be vulnerable to disaster.”
You alone are responsible for what you do or don’t do, or how you respond to what’s done to you. This empowering mindset revolutionized my life. Luck, circumstances, or the right situation wasn’t what mattered. If it was to be, it was up to me.
Preparation (personal growth) + Attitude (belief/mindset) + Opportunity (a good thing coming your way) + Action (doing something about it) = Luck
You’ve got to want something, and know why you want it, or you’ll end up giving up too easily.
This is so important that I made it the focus of another book, Living Your Best Year Ever: A Proven System for Achieving BIG GOALS (LivingYourBestYearEver.com). You MUST know your why.
To truly ignite your creative potential and inner drive, you have to look beyond the motivation of monetary and material goals.
Your core values are your internal compass, your guiding beacon, your personal GPS. They act as the filter through which you run all of life’s demands, requests, and temptations, making sure they’re leading you toward your intended destination.
In fact, psychologists tell us that nothing creates more stress than when our actions and behaviors aren’t congruent with our values.
Anthony Hopkins, I was surprised to learn that his extraordinary talent and determination blossomed from anger. Hopkins admitted to being a horrible student, burdened with dyslexia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder before such diagnoses existed. He was shackled with the label “problem child.”
They write it down and they make plans for its accomplishment. Unsuccessful people carry their goals around in their head like marbles rattling around in a can, and we say a goal that is not in writing is merely a fantasy.
suggest that you take some time today to make a list of your most important goals.
One principle Jim Rohn taught me is: “If you want to have more, you have to become more. Success is not something you pursue. What you pursue will elude you; it can be like trying to chase butterflies. Success is something you attract by the person you become.”
Technology is a great tool but a terrible master. We have quickly become its slave.
Okay, now it’s your turn. Get out your little notebook and write out your top three goals. Now make a list of the bad habits that might be sabotaging your progress in each area. Write down every one.
identify what triggers it. Figure out what I call “The Big 4’s”—the “who,” the “what,” the “where,” and the “when” underlying each bad behavior.
Triggers bad habit
How can you alter them so that they’re not as harmful? Can you replace them with healthier habits or drop-kick them altogether? As in, for good.
Every so often I go on a “vice fast.” I pick one vice and check to be sure I’m still the alpha dog in our relationship. My vices are coffee, ice cream, wine, and movies.
What can you choose to “add in” so you can enrich your life experience?
I heard about one woman who decided to gain control of her finances by blogging about every penny she spends every day. She’s got her family, friends, and plenty of colleagues following her spending habits, and as a result of the many eyes of scrutiny, she’s become far more responsible and disciplined in her finances.
There’s nothing like a friendly contest to whet your competitive spirit and immerse yourself in a new habit with a bang.
What kind of friendly competition can you organize with your friends, colleagues, or teammates?
I love what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said so eloquently: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.”
The space shuttle uses more fuel during the first few minutes of its flight than it does the rest of the entire trip. Why? Because it has to break free from the pull of gravity.
but I send love to someone. The way to get love is to give it, and one thing I want more of is love. I give love by thinking of one person, anyone (it could be a friend, relative, co-worker,
Along with my daily rhythms, I also plan ahead. For instance, in looking again at my goal of deepening the love and intimacy of my marriage, I designed a weekly, monthly, and quarterly rhythm schedule.
Rohn taught me that life is simply a collection of experiences. Our goal should be to increase the frequency and the intensity of the good experiences.
Miss only a couple weeks of anything—workouts at the gym, affectionate gestures toward your spouse, or the phone calls that are part of your prospecting routine—and you don’t simply lose the results those two weeks would have produced.
Everyone is affected by three kinds of influences: input (what you feed your mind), associations (the people you spend time with), and environment (your surroundings).
By the way, if you want a podcast that will give you that positive input you’re looking for, check out DarrenDaily On-Demand wherever you listen to your podcast episodes, or go to DarrenDailyOnDemand.com. I listen to every episode! Not joking.
The influence your friends have over you is subtle and can be positive or negative. Either way, the impact is incredibly powerful.
