After showing his two sons two purses, one with $1million in cash and the other with a penny, the father told them, "I offer the same choice to you both. This million dollars; or this single penny. Whichever you choose, you must leave it in your purse under my butler's care for one full month to give you time to think about how you will use it . . . One more thing . . . if you choose the million, you may, if you wish, draw against it as credit with my bank in town. If you choose the penny, you can also draw against it (the million), but every day you choose to leave the penny's line of credit untouched, my butler has instructions to double the contents of your purse, for as long as it is under his care."   
 

You probably know where this story is going. One boy used the million dollar line of credit to try and make more money, hired staff, and invested for a quick flip, trying to grow the money in the allotted 31 days. The other brother decided to take the penny "doubling offer" and stayed away from the line of credit. And so it continues . . . 

Towards the end of the month, the boy that hired staff and paid salaries grew the funds to $1.5 million before his debts were due. When the debts were calculated, they were reported to be $1.75M . . . he was $250,000 in the RED!  He hustled over to see his brother on day 28 and . . . "the first boy's purse of pennies had passed the million-dollar mark, and on day 29, the two-and-a-half-million mark. Then on day 30, it had exceeded five million, and now today, when the butler handed his purse over from his own care, it had topped out at $10,737,418…and twenty-four cents." …"The boy who chose to wait for the penny had discovered the extraordinary power that some call "the eighth wonder of the world", the remarkable creative force of compound interest…"
 

These excerpts are from the book The Slight Edge, by Jeff Olson. Many of you have heard about or read the book, especially those of you that have participated in Ninja Selling. This book is a fantastic life lesson about "Turning Simple Disciplines Into Massive Success & Happiness" as the cover of the book states.
 

The essence of the book is an emphasis on doing the little things the right way, and doing them consistently. I'm sure that Nick Saban has read this book, and he would call it "The Process".  Whatever you want to call it, it is clear that the compounding of small disciplines, over time, creates enormous success. 
 

What are the small disciplines? There are too many to mention. But, how about starting with the physical - how do you get in shape? Well, you go for a walk for 5 minutes. The next day you walk for 6 minutes. On day six, you are walking for 10 minutes. On day sixteen, you are walking for 20 minutes. Day 26 you are walking for 30 minutes. (It's getting easy.) On day thirty, instead of walking for 34 minutes, jog slowly for 5 minutes, etc. and continue increasing daily. (You are slowly getting into shape.) In 30 days you have walked for 9 hours and 11 minutes, and now jogging for 5 minutes, and no day in the last 30 have you spent more than 34 minutes at one time. Wow! And, you are not sore; you are compounding.

Let's talk about your business. Because it is not physically taxing, the focus is on consistency.  

• 5 phone calls every day, Monday – Friday:   That equals 25 calls in a week.  For 50 weeks in a year, that is 1,250 calls.  
• 3 notes every day, Monday – Friday:  That equals 15 notes in a week.  For 50 weeks in a year, that is 750 notes.

Do you get the drift? The little things above can take an hour or two of your day (the long-winded client & customer may push you to the 2-hour gig occasionally).  But let's say this takes you 1.5 hours each day. That is:

• 1.5 hours x 5 days M-F = 7.5 hours per week, or 375 hours per year.  In only 375 hours in a FULL year, you have made 1,250 calls and written 750 notes.  That is pretty efficient.

If you haven't read The Slight Edge, I highly recommend you buy it. Actually, don't just buy one, buy several! After reading it, you will want to give it to special people in your life. Several people I have run into in the last month have told me that my dad had gifted them with the book and it had a profound impact on their work and personal life. It is also one of those books that you want to keep for yourself and read annually just to keep your own Slight Edge going. Keep compounding your efforts!