[PODCAST 327]: The Power of Compounded Effort - Compounding Change and Growth - Learn | Do

Hello friends! Today we’re talking about making change, but not in a scary, high-pressured, fearful kind of way. And that’s because we prefer sustainable change that happens naturally and gradually over time through simple steps we call “micro-efforts.”

Most of us have heard that “the journey of 1,000 miles begins with just one step.” And that’s true in most things, right? Literal journeys, like hikes, flights, trips, etc. don’t happen in one big leap or jump, and we’d never expect that. But when the steps, the feet, and the miles add up, we’re taken to beautiful valleys, vistas, and summits.

Before we go deeper into micro-efforts, let’s do a quick review of the LearnDoBecome journey, which I hope will become more and more familiar (and exciting) to you as you move forward here with us:

LEARN = Utilize the helpful, informative, free resources we have on our website, in our newsletter, and across our social media channels.

DO = Build a STEP System or “Command Central” for peace of mind and clarity. (Lots of free resources can support you, or you can go through the STEP Program and STEP Coaching!)

BECOME = Create a life where you “wake up excited and go to bed content,” (optionally alongside fellow ARISErs!) with balance in these 6 areas: organization, relationships, higher power, well-being, finances, and purpose.

I’d also like to go a little deeper into what ARISE-ing actually means. Some people think we’re here to make them “more productive” or help them pack more and more into each day. Others think we’re offering more ideas that they don’t have time to implement, so they hold off on the ARISE community until “life settles down.” While there is zero pressure to join any of our programs or memberships, Eric and I sat down this year (in several different working sessions) to identify our ARISE Success Milestones. We want to clearly articulate WHY we’re running this community and explain what it will actually do for you.

So here you go:

We hope you feel energized by these, and our goal is truly for this ARISE community to make an impact in your life that gives you a noticeable lift, day after day. We consistently use the phrase, “Wake up excited, go to bed content.” I’m even working on making a sticker for that. Here’s my initial sketch!

All right, now let’s jump into the actual topic for today.

Will you please take a moment and think of one experience in your life where you consistently put energy into a “micro-effort” and it positively resulted in an oversized result for you? You likely already have evidence that this works.

Additionally, there are many books on this topic you may have already read: Atomic Habits, The Power of Habit, The Slight Edge, Tiny Habits, and The Compound Effect.

Each author brings their own take on the subject, but the end goal is the same: Establish regular, bite-sized efforts towards the things that matter most, and over time, you’ll experience that beautiful change you desired in the first place.

As an example from our own lives, Eric and I wanted to “move more,” so we thought about how we could do that in just a few minutes a day. We already walk our dog three times a day, so we decided if we could just make each walk a little bit longer–and perhaps add a fourth walk right before bedtime, we could get in quite a bit more walking without feeling like we were adding “one more thing” to our schedules.

It’s easy to think that just a few minutes of walking won’t make a difference, but it already has!

And as we get ready to close up, we thought we’d share our four ARISE opening reflection questions for this month’s topic that goes deeper into the power of micro-efforts. The questions are in bold below, and then I’ve answered them for myself so you can get a feel for what you might say:

1. What’s one area of your life where you’ve been waiting for “the right time” to make a change—and why do you think you’ve been waiting?

I want to put more time and energy into writing–articles, podcasts, social media posts, books…. I love it and I miss it. I’ve been waiting because I feel like other things need me more or because I need to make myself available to everyone. It’s funny because now that I think about it, I don’t really have a good reason. Maybe I’m scared? Scared that it won’t be received with the same enthusiasm I imagine, and I don’t want to waste my time.

2. If this change had already taken place, how would your life benefit from it? (Give us a peek into the future!)

Ahhh, I feel like it would be amazing. Not only would I enjoy the process, but I think it would help me to reflect on my life in a more powerful way and bring together my favorite books, quotes, stories, experiences, and ideas in a way that could help others. I also think it would bring energy to the business side of LearnDoBecome because I keep a whole lot inside right now that I feel excited to share.

3. Think about a very doable habit or micro-effort that has already created positive change in your life. What is it, and what makes it work?

My nutrition is dialed in right now. I have time allotted each day to food preparation–and time to just sit and eat without rushing from place to place, and by making it a priority, I’ve gotten so much healthier over the past few years.

4. Thinking about the area of life we discussed in questions one and two, what is one sustainable micro-effort you could put into place today that would move you closer to your goal, as long as you were consistent? (And please–make this as SMALL as you can. We want this to feel 100% doable, even during the hardest days and weeks.)

I think I could approach writing the same way I approach food preparation. I could sit down during my Weekly Review and outline what kinds of things I want to write over the coming week (keeping it flexible), and then I could assign time each day–even 10 minutes–to writing. I like that quote by Henry David Thoreau that says, “No day will have been wholly misspent, if any sincere, thoughtful page has been written.” I believe I could do this joyfully, if it were included as part of “creating my day.”

We hope that this podcast has given you a few simple ideas to get you going with consistent, sustainable micro-efforts that will have a powerful compound effect on your life! And if you’d like to join with us and the ARISE community to go deeper into this topic, our live workshop is Tuesday, June 9th @10am Pacific–or you can catch the recording inside the members’ area later. 🙂

We are so, so grateful to have you with us here at LearnDoBecome and wish you the very best!