Compounding for Real Change

According to author James Clear, best-selling author of Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones (2018), chapter one through three describes the miracle of compounding in an exciting and non-financial way that speaks directly to anyone who may be regularly bankrupt of positive habits, and this includes everyone I know, including myself as a doctoral student.

While compounding has become a miracle method used by fiduciaries for centuries to gradually increase savings, Clear’s concept is less financially risky but equally difficult to sustain over a long period of time. Like the stock market, his research suggests few have the financial or personal acumen and stamina to stick with the program for the long game (Clear, 2018).

Clear’s idea of compounding daily habits for future success greatly resonates with stock market investors as well as those investing in their education. Overall, both types of financial and educational investments involve taking high-stakes positions where one plays with some knowledge and skill, but a great deal of naivety in an ever-changing landscape. The way to overcome this inexperience is to understand the reasoning behind one's behaviors, determine whether these behaviors are leading to improvements or decline in success, and develop deep-rooted habits based on scientific research and consistent success rates.

In fact, I see a great deal of duality and contradiction between the processes of making financial and educational investments. For instance, investors are often disciplined and patient while waiting for compounding to occur in financial investments, but much more impatient and frivolous when investing in their own education. While the book enlightens the reader on the science behind building better habits and continuing to make small daily changes, there are no instructions for immediate success in losing weight, acing interviews, fixing marriages, or becoming a better IT professional. In short, this book covers basic habit-forming models and provides the “why” and “how” of the process, but readers must be diligent and knowledgeable when determining which strategic moves will best suit their own personal investments.

In chapter two, Clear (2018) describes his scientific explanation of the four-step pattern for all habits including a cue, craving, response, and reward system that has the power to motivate or derail even the best of us. Through this process, individuals are programming and training themselves for success or failure by setting up the boundaries based on their own risk tolerance, similar to determining one's investing limitations.

For example, imagine that on a bad day at work you pull up Pinterest and take a quick glimpse of a delicious loaf of Italian bread and this is your first cue. This sparks a craving for crusty buttery bread and perfectly al dente pasta. Next, you respond by telling your husband that you need to buy groceries, and you take the family out for dinner at the local Italian restaurant. You tell yourself that you can always click list the groceries for pickup on the way home. You are so proud of yourself for caring for your family and taking care of business that you reward yourself with a limoncello gelato for dessert.

What you didn't realize is that Pinterest's image of bread and hot steamy butter pulled you into a self-fulfilling prophecy, one that was subconsciously programmed into your psyche as a child. Perhaps you realize how bread and pasta no longer make everything better, and you start feeling terrible and guilty about eating so many carbs. But why did you believe that this was the answer? As you think back to your childhood, you remember your grandfather's motto for life, "pasta makes everything better." Finally, it becomes clear that your grandfather's saying was more tied to good feelings of family togetherness than the actual food that was served, and this prompted you to eat unhealthily. On deeper inspection, you may realize that you really craved quality time with your family.

Overall, the process seems fairly simple, but it allows the reader to analyze their habits with more introspection and analysis. Clear's premise centers around “the little things,” and this reminded me of another book I am familiar with titled, “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference,” by Malcolm Gladwell (2019). The two books are comparative in their tone, structure, research style, and “little things” theme. In comparison, if Clear’s book focuses on how to make great pizza over time, then Gladwell’s book focuses on having the right combination of ingredients to make a great pizza at the right time.

In my experience as a doctoral student, I can create smarter atomic habits and perhaps stack on additional habits for staying on track as a professional. For example, at the beginning of every Spring, I deep clean my home and purge older items that may be wasteful or distracting, and I may decide to set up various stations as the author recommended for completing specific tasks. I typically create a schedule that allows me to exercise and relax on alternating days, but I may incorporate time for when I am sick so that I can take time to rest and recover without any guilt or fear of missing out. I can decide to buy healthy foods ahead of time, so they are readily available and have healthy meals available on a Pinterest board for easy access. When exercising, I usually move my exercise equipment close to my desk so I can exercise whenever I am ready, but I can improve this by having a certain area for working out that is separate from my workspace. I try to complete my coursework during the week so that I have the weekend off for free time with family and friends, but as the workload increases I am creating more opportunities to spend time with family while listening to the audiobook, or reading articles and writing.

It is also important to reflect on my accomplishments and reward myself when difficult tasks are completed, as this is somehow an afterthought as a workaholic and full-time mother. I will need to include more complicated and meaningful stackable habits as an adult and provide new types of self-discipline to remind me that an educational investment comes with sacrifices and is a privilege that should not be taken lightly. This is how compounding will lead to phenomenal change, it is found in the little things we do each day for the long game.

References

Clear, J. (2018). Chapters 1-3. In Atomic habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits & break bad ones: Tiny changes, remarkable results (pp. 13–55). Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Gladwell, M. (2019). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Back Bay Books / Little, Brown and Company.