Can The Small Things Really Make a Difference?

You are more than two weeks into the New Year. Has your enthusiasm begun to diminish in regards to your new goals? The reality that change is hard is probably setting in. Not only that! Change doesn't happen over night! You begin to doubt if all the small efforts you are making will really make a difference.

Making a Choice

Imagine you are given the choice between taking $3 million in cash right now or a single penny that doubles in value every day for thirty-one days. Which would you choose? 

Did you choose the $3 million? Initially it seems to make the most sense. You immediately have a large amount of cash that you didn’t even need to work for. Wow, that doesn’t happen everyday!

Or did you choose the penny? If so you may either be familiar with this example or just really know your math! Choosing the penny pays off in a big way though it takes time to actually see the results. Thirty-one days can seem like a long time to wait for a payoff when there is the option of having $3 million in your possession immediately. 

The Penny Outcome

Let’s say you choose the $3 million. It feels amazing to have this amount of money all at once and you begin to focus on all the things you are going to do with your money. Though you can’t stop thinking about the difference a penny doubling in value everyday can make at the end of thirty-one days. 

Just for fun let’s check out how the penny increases in value weekly and if it can really make much of a difference. 

At the end of week one, seven days in, the balance is 0.64 cents. Two weeks in, day fourteen the balance is $81.92. By the end of week three, twenty-one days in, the balance is $10,485.76. By the end of the fourth week, day twenty-eight, only three more days to go, the balance is $1,342,177.20. Day thirty the account has a balance of $5,368,708.80. OMG on day thirty-one the balance is $10,737,417.10! 

This is more than three times the $3 million you chose in the moment!  

The value of the penny builds gradually. Making changes to reach your goals takes time and patience. There is no quick fix for change. You need to put in the effort and do the work. 

It is never just one thing you do. It is the accumulation of all the small conscious, consistent steps you take along the way that has you all of a sudden achieving success. I remember about year four into my business my youngest son commented on how all of a sudden I had gotten so busy. 

From the outside looking in you can understand how it may look that way. Though the truth is from the inside you know it was all of the decisions I made and the actions I took through those four years that allowed me to be busy all of a sudden.

Continue to stay committed to doing the work and all of a sudden you will have reached your goal.   

Align yourself with what matters most to you. Live your brand fully expressed with intention and purpose to achieve outstanding results!