The Context
Executing with monumental effort is intimidating and uncommon. If you want to lower the threat level of execution, think of it in economic terms. Because in the financial marketplace, nothing evolves by reflecting, only by reinvesting. Leverage comes from the principle of compound interest, aka, money that grows on top of money. Investing consistently is what allows your investments to grow on top of your investments, leading to huge gains over time. Same goes for the rest of our lives. When we learn to make small investments in the right things and watch those investments grow on top of each other over time, it’s profoundly satisfying.
The Tool
Micro Execution
MICRO EXECUTION — The practice of creating incremental, meaningful work in a limited time frame.
This action doesn’t have to big or difficult, it simply has to move your story forward. Adams, in his stellar book on training our brains, writes about how all of us us can cure our own impulse for inaction. It’s all about lowering the threat level of execution. Stop imagining everything you need to do, he explains, and start imagining the smallest step that you can do without much real effort. It’s all about taking continuous microsteps that sum up to big things over time.
The Rest
If you’re fighting the terrible weight of inertia right now, figure out your own microexecution strategy. Spend one one thousandth of your day on activities that create compound interest. Because even if they’re not perfect, even if they’re not that enjoyable, trust that the momentum you generate around them will lead to something that is. Remember the first law of motion. An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion. Invest today, and pay dividends tomorrow. How could the law of compound interest give you more leverage?
The Benefits
Overcome the terrible weight of inertia
Lower the perceived threat level of execution
Grow your leverage in small, daily bursts of action
Build compound interest that adds up to big things over time