Compound Interest: Best Friend or Worst Enemy?

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t, pays it.” -Albert Einstein

We want to get rich quickly, but it happens overnight for almost no one.

We want to lose weight by this time tomorrow, but there’s no healthy plan for that.

We would love to completely change our character in the next two days, but unfortunately, Amazon can’t deliver this like they deliver everything else.

The things you most admire in other people did not happen overnight.

They spent years doing daily work when no one was watching.

They have built habits that produce the current results in their lives. 

They do consistently what the rest of us do occasionally. 

The Power of Compound Interest

If you invest $100,000 and it earns 8% a year, after 40 years you’ll have $2,172,452. While many of us understand the power of compound interest in terms of money, I believe compound interest is the secret in every area of life. Here’s how I think about it in every area of my life:

Compound Interest: Daily Investment over a Long Period of Time

This is how spiritual formation happens.

This is how the best parenting takes place.

This is how you grow a church or a business.

This is how you get into the best physical shape of your life. 

What is true about the positive outcomes with compound interest is equally true about the negative outcomes we’d rather avoid.

Compromise daily and you’ll have a compromised life.

Make poor choices weekly and you’ll destroy your life.

Invest in everything but your marriage and you’ll have a lifeless marriage or a marriageless life. 

Take small steps away from God everyday and your character will look nothing like Jesus.

Will you make compound interest your best friend or your worst enemy?

What small, daily choice can you make that will lead to the fruit you most want to see in your future?

What good inputs did you stop making, because you hadn’t seen the results you wanted yet?

Do the right things daily and then do them for a really long time.

“You only need to take a series of tiny steps, consistently, over time, to radically improve your life.” Darren Hard, The Compound Effect