Compounding in Achieving Goals

Welcome to "Quite Compounding," a newsletter dedicated to helping you master the art of compounding not just wealth, but success in every area of life.

In life, as in finance, quiet, simple practices yield the greatest results over time.

We’ve all been there—procrastinating on achieving goals feel like mountains to climb.

Whether it’s learning a new skill, finishing a book, building your first crore, or achieving financial freedom, the thought of starting is daunting.

I get it.

And I found a way to turn effort into effortless progress—and here’s how you can do the same.

Effort to Effortless

We hear people say, “It won’t be easy, but it’s worth it.”

It is conditioned from childhood to date that to become successful we need to put in a lot of effort. The word “effort” is always associated with pain and stress.

And we would have surely heard this quote - “No pain, no gain.”

But why do meaningful, essential, and important activities need to be hard, painful, and stressful?  

The next time when you are faced with daunting, difficult, and important goals, remember the D.O.G Method.

The D.O.G Method

D - Done – What does "Done" look like?

Imagine you are running a marathon and you don’t know how many miles you need to run and there is no exact finish line. The chances of starting the race itself become sleek to none because there is no exact finish line.

We need to start with the end in mind.

Just ask yourself this question, “What does Done look like?” and visualize the scenario wherein you are achieving the goal.

Example: For an investor, "Done" might mean achieving his First Crore in Wealth.

O - Obvious – What’s the First "Obvious" Step?

A small anecdote to explain this point.

There is a decluttering specialist named April Perry.

Some years ago, a lady came to her with a problem. She had books all around her place and she wanted to declutter and organize. She called Perry for help.

The woman knew that she needed to buy a bookshelf, but she hadn’t done it for months.

Perry asked the woman, "If I brought a laptop, would you be able to order a bookshelf for organizing the books?"

"I could do it." replied the woman, "But I need to measure my office walls to see what size I need to order."

Then Perry asked, “Could you go right now and measure the office walls?”

The woman replied, “No, I don’t have a measuring tape.”

April Perry burst out laughing.

The woman had delayed this activity because she couldn’t recognize the first obvious step and the most trivial step. “Buy a measuring tape or rather just borrow it.”

The moment you recognize the first obvious step, the project/task/goal will become less overwhelming and moreover, the first step is the easiest of the steps.

For an investor who wants to achieve the first crore milestone, the first obvious step is to "Save money".

G- Gradual – What Pace Can I Sustain?

Let me explain this using an episode from the past.

In November 1911, 2 boats set sail from Europe to the South Pole.

One boat was led by Captain Roald Amundsen from Norway and another was led by captain Robert Falcon from Great Britain.

The 2 had disparate sailing philosophies.

Robert Falcon pushed his crew to exhaustion on sunny days and rested and stayed stationary during rainy days.

Whereas Roald Amundsen and his crew sail 15 miles per day regardless of weather - no more or no less. 

On December 14, 1911, Captain Amundsen led his crew to become the first team to reach the South Pole and record history and also made a 16,000-mile journey home without fatigue and stress.

The British captain with his exhausted and demoralized crew reached the South Pole 34 days later than the previous crew and the return journey was still more exhaustive. The team took a ghastly toll because of exhaustion and frostbite and all 5 men froze to death. 

Before taking on a goal, establish a smooth and sustainable pace of progress so that you can move with momentum and achieve the goal.

It is not about getting there faster, it is getting there better.

For an investor who wants to achieve the first crore milestone, the first obvious step is to "Save X amount of money every month and invest consistently".

Effortless Effort

Make the daunting and difficult goals easy to achieve by remembering the acronym D.O.G and connecting the dots in the same order.

• D - Done - What does Done look like?

• O- Obvious - What is the first obvious step? 

• G - Gradual - What gradual pace can I sustain?

If we ask these questions frequently whenever we are taking up big goals, we will enter an effortless state, take effortless actions, and achieve effortless results. 

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