compound interest for the soul

Compound Interest for the Soul

There’s a phrase I keep close like a pocketknife: Small deposits of time over time are always better than large deposits of time one time.

It’s something I read in a book or heard on a podcast, but I seriously cannot remember where.

It’s something life beat into me, one busted plan, one long season, one slow victory at a time.

Everybody wants significant results fast.

We live in a world of “thirty-day transformations” and “get-rich-quick” schemes, but the truth is, everything worth a damn takes time.

• A deer doesn’t grow into a trophy because you watched it twice in October.

• A marriage doesn’t get strong because you bought flowers once.

• And a man doesn’t become who he’s supposed to be in a weekend of good intentions.

Real life is built in minutes, not moments.

Why It Works

The American Psychological Association has written extensively about what it calls “habit stacking” and “consistent compounding.”

It’s the idea that doing a little bit of something every day rewires your brain until it becomes who you are.

James Clear said it best in Atomic Habits: “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.”

It’s the same thing my granddad used to say, just with less fancy language: “Son, you can’t grow corn by staring at the field.”

Those small deposits add up.

Whether it’s working out, building a business, writing a book, or being a dad, the principle never fails: steady beats dramatic every time.

When I was younger

When I was younger, I thought I could fix everything with one big push, work harder for a week, chase the next deal, and make up for lost time. But that’s just sprinting in circles.

Now I wake up early, make coffee, write for fifteen minutes, move my body for twenty, and take time to sit with my thoughts before the day eats me alive.

Those thirty-five minutes might not look like much, but they stack.

It’s like hunting.

You don’t fill the freezer because you went out once in perfect conditions.

You fill it because you kept showing up in the rain, in the cold, in the quiet.

You studied the wind. You paid attention.

You made those deposits until luck decided you’d earned it.

That same truth applies to everything: faith, friendship, craft, and even peace of mind.

The people who get where they’re going are the ones who treat life like a savings account, not a lottery ticket.

Keep showing up

It’s not about how smart you are or how strong you start; it’s about how long you keep showing up.

If you can build something small every day, eventually you wake up surrounded by something big.

It’s why some guys still hunt with their dads every fall, why some marriages last fifty years, and why some businesses quietly outlive the flashy startups.

It’s not one grand act. It’s a thousand tiny ones that stack like bricks.

Just show up

Just show up. Ten minutes today, ten tomorrow, and the next ten the day after that.

Many people spend their lives waiting for the perfect time. Truth is, it’s already here, it’s just hiding in the small stuff.

So make your deposits. Read a page. Take a walk. Fix one thing. Pray a little. Work steadily. Do it again tomorrow!

The future isn’t built on big moments; it’s built on quiet ones, stacked slowly and honestly, like firewood before the first frost.