Compound yourself

The principle of compounding is the best. Little changes pay huge dividends. 1.01^365 = 37.8 >> 0.99^365 = 0.03.

Optimize for learning instead of earning initially. Explore the bold bets and take early risks in your career. Go for an increased learning rate, where you complete at least two months of work in one month.

Identify the sweet spot at the intersection of

• What you like to do

• What are you good at doing

• What a company wants you to do.

Initially, only one or two might intersect. But with continuous iteration, we will eventually get there. In the stock market, people with a long-term view of their careers are truly rewarded. Don't let initial discomfort distract you from the learning that you can achieve.

I like Scott Galloway's interpretation, which I would slightly modify.

• Focus on what matters - your long-term career.

• Be a Stoic in the face of temptation - evaluate opportunities on a trajectory, too, instead of compensation.

• Use Time to your advantage - be patient and hold on.

• Diversify your skills - There can be many engineers, but there are fewer engineers with an understanding of marketing.

To summarize, compound yourself by learning new things, applying them, and chasing opportunities that catapult you in your career.

Despite people knowing the power of compounding is very good, it is very hard to understand it. Why? Compounding makes us wait an insane amount of time before we reap the benefits. Working keeps us engaged, but waiting is hard. The moment we wind down for the day, we look for the returns. It is like bamboo. When a bamboo seed is sown, the progress is unseen for a long time, before an explosive growth spurt hits. In the initial time, all the bamboo does is grow roots.

Similarly, we need to build our roots, develop our skills, and invest in ourselves. Then, we will have the best returns. Until then, we need to handle the psychological pressure of low returns. But when exponential growth hits (I say 'when' and not 'if'), it looks so seamless that for the outside world, it looks like a fluke. Nothing is ever a fluke. Hard work always comes back. Until then, we keep doing what we do.