The Compound Effect is about achieving success in all areas of life and how small actions, repeated consistently over time can produce big results.
The author, Darren Hardy, is uniquely qualified to talk about this subject because he was a founding publisher and the editorial director of Success magazine.
As part of his job with Success Magazine, he interviewed some of the most successful people in the world. He’s as connected with leaders in personal development, business, entrepreneurship, entertainment, media, and sports as anyone.
Darren himself has been a leader in the personal development industry for years and has been wildly successful in business. The back flap of the book says that as an entrepreneur, Darren was earning six-figure income at age 18, over a million dollars a year at age 24, and running a company doing $50 million in annual revenue by age 27.
But the Compound Effect is not just about financial success. A strong point of the book is that the author provides a perfect balance of information about the three key areas of success in life: 1. Health/fitness. 2. Financial success. 3. Relationships.
There are lots of books on fitness success. I’ve written a few myself. There are also countless books about financial success. And there are many books about relationship success. Darren covers all of these bases in this one book, and who wouldn’t want success in all three areas?
Maybe your primary interest is health, fitness, and weight control. If so, you will get great value from the book even if only one-third of it is about fitness. Not to mention Darren is a fitness aficionado himself, including weight training. A bonus is you can learn how to be more successful in relationships and building wealth.
If your main interest is financial success, you’ll also get great value from reading the Compound Effect. But you’ll also realize the value multiplies as you absorb the advice on health and relationships. That’s because if you succeed at building wealth, but lose your health and family, you’re not really successful.
And if your major interest is relationships, it’s the same deal. The relationship information is valuable, but you see that it’s priceless if you understand one thing: without your health you can’t be there for your family, and without your finances in order, you can’t support your family.
Maybe even more impressive is the way he covers all these topics so concisely. The book is short at only 170 pages. It’s an easy read and hard to put down. There are no boring parts. The audiobook is only 4 hours and 45 minutes long. It’s a great listen, too. The author is a professional speaker and reads the book with terrific energy.
Darren wastes no time warming up with a long introduction. He gets straight to the meat of the message right from the first pages. There is no fluff in the entire book. He includes plenty of anecdotes, stories, and examples, but they’re not filler – they’re all interesting and support the points the author is making.
One of the key themes is the power of consistency and how repeating positive habits and behaviors over time, the results will compound to remarkable degree. Even seemingly small, inconsequential actions make a difference. The difference may be imperceptible at first, but after months and years, the impact on results can be extraordinary.
What’s more he explains, is that positive changes in one area can have a ripple effect and lead to more positive changes in that domain or even in unrelated areas of your life. Little things can make a big difference.
Other topics include the value of tracking your results, the impact of choices, the necessity of personal responsibility, and the power of habits. He also emphasizes setting goals, harnessing momentum, establishing routines, and associating with the right people.
A strong point of the compound effect is that it’s an anti-instant gratification approach. Darren drops a truth bomb in the opening pages when he exposes the fact that the success industry (fitness success, financial success, or any other area) is full of charlatans hyping gimmicks, magic bullets, secret formulas, and short cuts.
He says we’ve been bamboozled about what it takes to succeed and that none of the above are true. In our fitness community, we’ve been sharing the same message: You can’t fix weight control or health issues with the newest fad diet or magic supplement.
“Marketing has distorted our sense of what it really takes to succeed” Darren says. He continues, “We have lost sight of the simple but profound fundamentals of what it takes to be successful.”
Regarding all the shiny new objects, he quotes Jim Rohn: “There are no new fundamentals. You’ve got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, “I’ve got a new fundamental.” That’s like someone inviting you to tour a factory where they are manufacturing antiques.”
Hardy offers a warning to prospective readers: “Earning success is hard. The process is laborious, tedious, sometimes even boring. It’s slow and arduous.”
I often sign off on my newsletters and articles with, “Train hard and expect success.” But I sometimes add, “… but don’t expect success to be easy.”
The hard work ethic, no quick fixes approach in the Compound Effect instantly won me over, and I strongly endorse the messages and methods inside. There are many parallels in this approach to the approach I promote in my fitness books and fitness community, and so I don’t hesitate to recommend this b book to all of my readers.
I have the audiobook and the original 2010 hardcover. I noticed there was a 10th anniversary edition released in 2020. It appears as if it’s been slightly expanded, but since I haven’t read it, I’m not sure what’s different or what new material is in there. If it adds more of the same, that sounds like another reason to run out and grab it. This is a book that should not only be read, but re-read and studied. 5/5 stars.
Here’s the link to the hardcover on Amazon: https://amzn.to/47Yydb0
– Tom Venuto, author of,
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle
Leave A Comment