When in Doubt, Zoom Out

Pre-COVID, it was easy to get swept up in the day-to-day workflow. There was always something to do, an event to attend, a family celebration around the corner, and errands to run. The pandemic removed much of this from the day-to-day experience. COVID forced event cancellations and drove lockdowns, and I began to see that I took for granted many small details that contributed to life feeling vibrant and meaningful. This realization led me to discover that many of the aspects of our life are not guaranteed. Relationships, friendships, jobs, and life itself; each takes effort. They each require focused attention. We must invest small amounts regularly to ensure that they flourish long-term. Similarly, by investing small amounts daily, we build up a compounding reserve that can help us weather the storm of adversity.

The idea of long-term investments compounding seems pretty straightforward when we relate it to finances. For example, we understand that if we invest x dollars now, we can receive 5x in return 40 years later. What if we take this idea and apply it to the other essential domains of our life?

Below are five examples of how we can change our perspective by applying long-term investment thinking to our lives’ pillars. (Including studies if you’re interested)

Movement- Walking for an extra 10 minutes per day. When magnified over the course of 20 years leads to the equivalent of walking across the United States of America.

Nutrition- Drinking 1 extra 8 oz glass of water each day. Over 20 years, is the equivalent of 15 bathtubs full of water.

Mindset- 5-minute meditations or “do nothing”/breathing break each day. Over 20 years, that’s the equivalent of a five-month stay at a Buddhist temple. (*Where monks meditate for roughly four hours per day. There is some exciting recent research that identifies what may cause positive adaptations from meditating.

Restoration- An extra 15 minutes of sleep each night would equate to an additional 227 (full eight hours) nights of sleep over 20 years. (Can sleep act as overnight therapy?

Environment- 5 minutes spent in nature each day results in over 25 full days spent in the great outdoors over the course of 20 years.

Here at Whealth, our team resonates with the Japanese term Kaizen. It refers to the idea that change is good and that we should seek continual improvement to become 1% better each day. This 1% better concept, when expanded, results in a 38x improvement over the year. That’s the power of compounding. 

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. (S)he who understands earns it. (S)he who doesn’t pays it.” - Albert Einstein

I invite you to employ the power of compounding in your life and see what flourishes as a result. 

We’d love to hear from you. Let us know what aspects of your life you’d like to invest in 1% more this week. We love new ideas.

Sincerely, 

-Shiloh at Whealth