Compound interest is one of the great phenomenons of the world. It's associated with investing, but applies to so much more.
It goes like this.
Let's say person A invests $1,000 per year in a mutual fund with an annual return averaging 7%.
Person B puts their $1,000 into a savings account because investing feels too risky.
Person C blows blows their $1,000 because they never heard of compound interest or investing. Or they did, but didn't care to learn about it.
After one year, person A has $1,070, person B has $1,000, and person C has zero dollars.
For the investor, that incremental change isn't anything to be too excited about. That's about enough money for a decent night out.
But then, fast forward.
Five years later, person A has $6,153.29, person B has $5,000, and person C still has zero dollars.
Ten years later, person A has $14,783.60, person B has $10,000, and person C (surprise) still has zero dollars.
The gap is increasing...
Thirty years later (I'll stop at this one, promise), person A has $101,073.04, person B has $30,000, and person C has nothing.
That's over a $71,000 difference between the one who invested and the one who played it safe. And over $100,000 from the one who did nothing.
And closing the gap from person C to person A...in other words, making up for lost time...is really hard.
It's the same with our skill building. Whatever we decide to do, decide to practice, decide to invest time into. It will determine who we are 30 years from now.
But it's hard to see the incremental differences in those early years. In our example, where would person A be if he quit after the first year.
If he said, "Psh...only seventy dollars?!? Forget this..."
What would life be like for your kids if they practiced piano for 30 years? Or what would life be like sticking to a meditation routine for 30 years? What kind of difference would working out regularly for 30 years make?
When deciding what to stick with and what to quit, for yourself or your kids, just ask yourself one question.
What will your 30-years-in-the-future self say?