How to Make Quantum Leaps in Life

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*Read Time: 10 minutes

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Kobe Bryant recalls playing in a summer league at about the age of 10-11 with a bunch of other kids.

That summer he scored 0 points. He was upset about it, crying. His dad told him that whether he scored 0 or 60 points, he would love him no matter what. That was the best thing his father could say to him. That gave Kobe all the confidence he needed to fail repeatedly. After that, he got to work honing his game. He was determined to score 60.

“I think that’s when the idea of understanding a long-term view became important because I wasn’t gonna catch these kids in a week. I wasn’t gonna catch ‘em in a year,” Kobe says.

He then created a ‘menu’ of everything he needed to work on. He focused on one thing at a time for a period of a few months.

Every summer, he came back a little better and eventually got some scoring in.

“I scored. You know, it wasn’t much, but I scored.”

Summer after summer he improved his game and right around the time he was turning 14, he became the best player in the state.

How does one go from being terrible and not scoring a single point to becoming the best in the state in a matter of 2-3 years?

Kobe says:

“But it’s simple, like if you do this math on this, right. If you think about how often kids are playing, and I tell this to my daughter and my daughter’s coach, it’s a simple thing of math. If you want to be a great player, if you play every single day, 2-3 hours. Every single day. Over the course of a year. How much better are you getting?

Most kids will play maybe an hour and a half 2 days a week. Do the math on that. That’s not gonna get it done. So if you’re obsessively training 2-3 hours every single day over a year, over 2 years, you make quantum leaps, man!”

What Kobe is referring to is what is coined as the compound effect.

The Compound Effect

The compound effect is a principle where you reap huge results from small, seemingly insignificant actions.

The massive success you see others reap does not come from luck. There is no overnight success. It comes from deliberately practicing your craft every single day until you get so good they can’t ignore you.

In the book ‘The Compound Effect’ the author Darren Hardy starts off explaining the compound effect using the analogy of money:

If you had the option to get 3 million right now or a penny that doubles in value every day for 31 days, which would you choose?

The 3 million definitely sounds like a better option. That is… until we take a closer look.

After 15 days, you only have $163.84. If you picked the penny, it would seem like you took a shit deal.

It will finally go over 1 million dollars on day 28. It still looks like the person who picked the 3 million had the better deal. It isn’t until day 30 that you would finally have more than the person who picked the 3 million and on the last day (day 31, not pictured), you would end up with over 10 million.

The same way money compounds over time, so do your small, seemingly insignificant habits. The results of your good (or bad) habits reveal themselves a few years down the line, just like with Kobe.

“Show me your habits and I’ll show you your future.” — Matt Batterson

In the book, Hardy uses 3 friends as an example to illustrate his point further.

There are 3 friends all in similar positions.

Larry drifts through life. He thinks he’s happy but will complain now and then that things aren’t changing.

Scott starts to read 10 pages of a book a day. He listens to something instructional or motivational for 30 mins a day. He cut out 125 calories by exchanging a soda for water and added a couple thousand steps. Nothing crazy. Small actions.

Brad invests in a large tv to watch more of his favorite shows. He’s eating desserts more often and puts a bar in the family room, which leads him to have an extra drink a week. He just wants to have more fun.

After 5 months, you can’t see any noticeable changes between them. After 18 months there are some slight changes, but it’s only after 31 months that the difference becomes stark.

Scott has trimmed down while Brad has put on weight.

If you do the math of the calories cut over the time period of 31 months, it’s about 33 pounds that Scott has lost, while Brad has gained about the same amount.

Larry is in the exact spot, only more bitter.

Hardy explains that Larry represents the vast majority of people. They aren’t improving their life situation, but they also’t in a downward spiral. They are in no-man's-land. They aren’t happy, but they aren’t unhappy enough to do something about it. Complacent. Sleepwalking through life.

If you really want to level up in life and unlock your potential, be like Scott.

The Compound Effect in Action — For Writers

Since one of my goals is to make money as a digital writer, it’s useful for me to understand what it takes for someone to become an ‘elite’ level writer.

I mention this is my playbook for becoming an elite level player in life. It’s the idea that you have to study the game tapes of people who have reached mastery level in your field.

What are the habits they have that compound over time?

Here are some other instances where you see the compound effect in action, specifically for prolific writers.

At the time of this writing, Stephen King has written a little over 60 novels. (Not including non-fiction or short stories.)

How does he dish out so much work?

He writes 2,000 words a day.

From his memoir:

R.L. Stine, well-known for writing the Goosebumps series of books, has written over 500 books and has sold over 400 million worldwide.

He also writes 2,000 words a day.

R.L. Stine even says, “I wrote for 20 years. Nobody noticed. I just kept going. It doesn’t happen right away.”

Small habits leading to an explosion of work.

Whatever your craft is, study the game tapes of those that are at your desired level and then apply it to your training.

Exponential Growth — Tackle Your Critical Tasks

Andy Frisella is the creator of 75 Hard.

If you don’t know what 75 Hard is, let me explain. It’s a mental toughness program. There is a list of tasks you must complete everyday and if you miss even one of them, then you lose the day and you have to start over with Day 1.

Here are the tasks:

• 2 (45 minute) workouts (1 workout must be outside)

• Stick to a diet, no cheat meals or alcohol

• Drink 1 gallon of water

• Read 10 pages of a book (Non-fiction)

• Take a progress pick.

Yes, if you miss even one of these, you have to start over on Day 1. Andy continuously explains to people that this is not a weight loss program (although you will lose weight), it's a mental toughness program.

I actually completed this program a few years ago (2020) and lost about 20 pounds. The actual point of the program is that it doesn’t matter how you feel, everything needs to get done or you start over. So in order for me to say that I completed the program, I had to get everything done regardless of if I felt like it or not. This led me to gain confidence in myself that I could do anything I set my mind to.

When I’ve shared this program with people, they think it’s kind of crazy. “75 days and you have to do all of that everyday?”

Honestly, I thought that as well when I first started.

But now, years removed, I realize that 75 days isn’t really a long time. It’s actually incredibly short. It takes just 2 and a half months of consistency for the mental (and physical) transformation to take place.

This stuff compounds long term. After 75 Hard you may decide to create your own type of program with your own critical tasks that you absolutely must stick to. This is what I started doing because of my newfound confidence.

I’ve seen a couple “softer” versions of the program, like Project 50, that has you do only one workout and “spend 1 hour studying a new skill” replaces what would be the second workout.

What I like about these “softer” versions is that they emphasize making the time to learn a new skill or master your craft.

It doesn’t really matter which one you do as long as you stick to it 100% regardless of how you feel. This will elevate confidence, self-belief, and trust with yourself.

And that’s what I want to get into here.

Andy Frisella actually has something he calls “The Power List”.

It’s where you set 3-5 critical tasks daily.

Similar to 75 Hard you must complete every critical task that you laid out.

This is where you implement daily habits of the people you’ve studied.

Here’s an example (my personal list):

• Write 500 words (min.)

• Study the game tapes (at least 1 hour)

  • (this is code for learning something new. It could be listening to a podcast or reading a book. It’s learning something new from people who are levels ahead of me, either with writing, business, or personal development, etc.)

• 10K Steps (+ lift weights on scheduled gym days)

• Hit Macros / 100 oz of water (min.)

• Meditation (15 minutes min., self-inquiry or other)

Of course, there may be other things I need or want to get done, but these are the critical tasks. The musts.

If you complete all the tasks for the day, give yourself a ‘W’. If you don’t, give yourself an ‘L’. Nobody is perfect, so inevitably you will end some days with an ‘L’. The idea is you want to get more ‘W’s than ‘L’s. If you win 4 out of 7 days, you won the week. Win enough weeks and you win the month and so on. This is how Andy Frisella explains it in his podcast.

I go one step further with this.

In the book ‘12 Week Work Year’ the author states they found that people who complete 80% or more of their key tasks are more likely to achieve their goals.

It makes sense to me. If the goal is to lose weight but you only workout and follow the meal plan 60% of the time, there’s no way you are going to get fit.

Even with 75 Hard or Project 50, the whole idea is to complete every day as a win or you start over, right?

So my thinking is you gotta win at an 80% clip.

I call this elite scoring in my playbook for becoming an elite level player in life.

Be an elite shooter. Set up your critical tasks (shots) for the day and knock your shots down. Maintain an 80% shooting percentage.

What this means is you want to ‘win’ 80% of the days or 6 out of 7 days. In a 30-day sprint, win 24 out of 30 days, etc.

As uncomfortable as it may be to score yourself, it is a crucial part of leveling up. None of us want to confront ourselves, but it is necessary.

Before starting 75 Hard I didn’t think I was eating that bad. I had already lost about 50 pounds before the program, but I plateaued. I was stuck at 190 pounds for a year, but after completing 75 Hard I had finally broken the plateau and lost about 20 pounds. Doing that program and having to stick to a diet with no cheat meals made me extremely aware of my poor eating habits.

Yes, it’s going to be uncomfortable to look at your critical tasks every day and be honest with yourself. Did you really earn a ‘W’ today or did you take another ‘L’? But it’ll make you highly aware of what you are or aren’t doing and from there you can correct the course in order to achieve your goals. With enough reflection and awareness, you will gain momentum and ‘win’ more days, which will lead to the achievement of your goals. The outcome is inevitable when you stick to the process.

MONK MODE

I’m not sure where this term originally stems, but the first time I heard of it was from Iman Gadzhi. Similar to Andy Frisella’s Power List, you have a bunch of tasks you need to stick to every day that you yourself create.

What I found most intriguing about the way Iman describes it is that he does this in seasons.

He says from Jan to about June he’s in complete Monk Mode, working on his business, focused on these critical tasks. In the summer months, he’s in enjoying-life-mode. He takes a step back from business. He’s not as hands-on with it. He lets himself party, meet-up with friends, etc. Goes all in on that. Then in fall he’s gearing up for another Monk Mode and putting the effort more towards business. Then he’s in complete Monk Mode in Jan once again.

When he’s in Monk Mode, he’s not hanging out with friends. He lets them know he’s in Monk Mode; they understand. He says he’s completely focused on business. When he’s not in Monk Mode, he’s allowing himself to meet-up with his friends more often and party.

In this 6-month period, he claims, you can accomplish more than most in a year due to the intense focus.

I really like this approach. This is why in my playbook I say you should work in sprints.

For example, go hard on a project for 30 days, 60 days, or even 6 months like Iman, where you are 100% all in and focused. For this time period, rack up as many W’s as you can and maintain an 80% shooting percentage. (Win more days than you lose.)

Then break.

Take a few days off, a week or two, or even a couple months like Iman, where you aren’t going as hard. You might be maintaining some habits and tasks, but you aren’t ballin’ out like it’s the NBA play-offs.

You need this ‘offseason’ so you don’t burn out. Rest. Recharge. Then go hard again. Whatever time split works best for you.

For example, I do this with my running. It is recommended, if you’re a runner, to have an offseason of at least 2 months. This doesn’t mean you don’t run. You can still run, but you aren’t training intensely for races or racking up weeks with high mileage. I usually cool-down with running when winter in Wisconsin hits. (I’ll use the treadmill in the gym to keep up with some running habits.)

Even in the book ‘12 Week Work Year’, it’s recommended to work in these 12-week seasons where you focus intensely on some goal or project for the 12 weeks. Then take a few days to review and rest before going again.

The Recap

Here’s the TLDR:

Apply the compound effect in your life. The compound effect is a principle where you reap huge results from small, seemingly insignificant actions.

Study and take inspiration from people that have reached mastery in your desired craft. Then set up 3-5 critical tasks that you must do every day.

These small daily habits will eventually add up, and you will make quantum leaps in your life.

Do this in sprints where you focus intensely on a project and on completing these tasks every day. (Think 75 Hard, Project 50, 12-Week Work Year, 6-Month Monk Mode). Do your best to ‘win’ the day 80% of the time.

After the chosen time-split, take a break. Rest. Recover. Enjoy your ‘offseason’. Then go for another season. Whatever time period works best for you.

Cheers to making quantum leaps!

— your friend and teammate, Player 2

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