Compounding Interest
Compounding Interest
Meditation, Relationships, Knowledge and Money
There’s an apocryphal quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “Compounding interest is the most powerful force in the Universe”.
While it’s unlikely that Einstein actually said it (the physicist died in 1955 and most recent reference of the quote is from 1983) the essence of the quote remains true, at least figuratively.
I have been able to notice the benefits of compounding in a lot of ways throughout the year. Curiously, money was not the primary one.
Knowledge compounds to an impressive rate. After a few months or years studying and researching a topic like crypto you can see a lot of dots connecting much quicker than you were previously capable of.
Sometimes I can only see the difference when I’m discussing with someone much older and wiser, but relatively ignorant in this particular subject.
It’s also humbling to see that knowledge compounds to them as well, because after a few conversations they catch up much faster than I imagined and also make their own dot connections.
Relationships compound at a much slower rate in my opinion. For me, it takes a few years to really trust someone and understand how a person truly thinks or feels.
But once this happens and you start to surround yourself with people you have long term relationships, it’s almost like you grow new limbs. People become an extension of you, and you of them. It’s extremely powerful.
My meditation journey started roughly the same time my crypto journey started, back in 2016. I’ve been fairly irregular, and it’s difficult to experience the benefits of compounding without keeping a daily habit of meditating.
Currently, I’m on my longest streak ever, 36 days. I can see the the benefits in my daily life. Even in moments of a lot of stress — like this week when the whole market crashed — I was able to retain a certain equanimity. You start to glimpse at the idea of detaching from to your emotions and look at them objectively. Experiencing this makes me want to push this habit much harder.
While I always had the intellectual validation for the meditation habit (from reading books like “The Art of Living” on Vipassana meditation), nothing beats experiencing it yourself.
If you never tried (or never tried for real) I urge you to do it. It will definitely change the way your brain is wired.
The meditation app Headspace was instrumental to me. Not only because it acts as a private teacher, but the gamification aspect really makes the habit stickier.
What about money?
Yes, money does compound, but I believe most people have a backwards relationship with money, making it the primary KPI of their success in life.
I believe that if you seek knowledge, cultivate long term relationships and have a healthy mind and body (another compounding habit) you will be mostly happy.
If you happen to acquire knowledge and use it in an area where the market will value, money will also follow. But inverting the relationship makes no sense
See you tomorrow.
