I promise, this is the last lesson related to the book Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success.
In the last lesson, I reviewed students’ successes with their change plans. It was remarkable, but it gets better.
Getting More
One young lady sought to reduce her mortgage debt by 4K. She actually reduced it by $5,728. But because she was putting it toward mortgage, it had a compounding effect that she did not even recognize. I will use round numbers to illustrate.
A $200,000 home at 4% interest will actually cost $331,815 over the course of a thirty-year loan. The $5,728 that she put into principle now will save her $11,923 over the life of her loan—a year and six months of the life of the loan. She didn’t know it, but she amplified her success.
Two or More
Most of the students were trying either to lose weight or save money, but two students who sought to save money accidentally amplified their success in a different way, and their story is worth telling. The first was trying to save $4,000 over the course of the semester. The second was trying to save $6,000. Both beat their goals, but the remarkable thing was that in the process, they actually lost weight too. How did they do it?
Their stories were remarkably similar. In trying to save money, they stopped eating out. By preparing food at home, they ate better and the pounds accidentally dropped off. Almost as an after thought, they mentioned the weight loss. The first wrote in a post script that, “I also lost 8 lbs. thanks to meal planning and kicking the Starbucks habit. I feel like a new person!” The other commented, “As a side effect…by cutting out frivolous spending such as trips to Starbucks and midnight trips to get a milkshake…I was able to LOSE 9 lbs. of weight!”
That is remarkable. But such synergies don’t have to happen by accident. They can be planned. You might not be able to have your cake and eat it to, but you can save your money and reduce your waist-line. Killing two birds with one stone is not just theoretical. It is possible. My students did it. You can too.
More and More
Recently I took my own advice in seeking to amplify success. Some time ago I had a management class develop eBooks on a leadership or management topic of their choice. They were sold on Amazon for a few dollars each. The proceeds were designated for a leadership scholarship fund. The project ended last year, but I waited until last week to give the money.
Last Friday was CSU’s Giving Day. On that day, any gifts to the university would be matched by a wealthy donor. The matching funds provided incentives for donors to give more and doubling the contributions to the school.
I emptied the accounts that held the student funds, and donated the $779.08 we had in the bank.
The university got extra mileage out of the donation by tweeting about it to encourage others to donate as well:
Now, $779.08 is not much of a scholarship; $1,558.16 is better. By choosing this time to give, we amplified success. And when we did, so did the university. When it was all said and done, the school raised over $125,000 in a day.
What About You?
You can amplify your success if you are thoughtful. How will you amplify your success?
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Dr. Darin Gerdes is a Professor of Management in the College of Business & the Director of Educational Technology at Charleston Southern University. All ideas expressed on www.daringerdes.com are his own.
This post was originally created for Great Business Networking (GBN), a networking organization for business professionals where Dr. Gerdes is the Director of Education.
