The Power of Compounding Daily
Your inherent duty as a human is to compound daily
One of the most powerful concepts I’ve come across is *compounding daily*. Consider this: in a typical 100-year lifespan, there are 873,600 hours. If we remove the 8 hours per day we spend sleeping, that leaves us with 582,400 productive hours. Although the “10,000-hour rule” has been debunked, research suggests it takes anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 hours of dedicated practice to achieve mastery in a subject. If we take the 10,000-hour benchmark as a rule of thumb, it means that, within two years of focused effort, with 11,648 hours available to practice, you can master any skill.
Whether you want to learn coding, become a master mathematician, painter, writer, singer, or even excel in entrepreneurship, the formula is the same: practice for two years non-stop, and you’ll become proficient. With enough basic intelligence and a strong work ethic, you can master virtually anything. The key is simple: compound your efforts daily, without fail. This idea motivates me because it means that if I truly dedicate myself, I can become an expert in any field. If I’m not doing so, it means I’m not living up to my full potential.
Compounding in Investments
The same principle applies to investing. Let’s say you invest $100,000 the moment your child is born and continue to invest $12 per day for the rest of their life in an index fund with an average return of 12% per year. By the time your child reaches 100 years old, they would have over $20 billion. This setup isn’t unrealistic, as long as you stay the course and make daily contributions for 100 years.
But here’s the reality: it’s incredibly hard to maintain such discipline. That’s why we don’t see more modern-day geniuses like Picasso, Einstein, Elon Musk, or Jeff Bezos. Nobody practices their craft for 16 hours a day for 100 years, and no one consistently invests $12 a day for 100 years. This is why there’s a scarcity of truly wealthy people and geniuses in the world today.
In Victor Haghani’s book *The Missing Billionaires*, the same statistics hold true. If all the millionaires from 100 years ago had invested their wealth in index funds with a 12% annual compounded return and left it untouched for 100 years, there would be at least 10,000 billionaires today just from inheritance alone. Instead, we see only about 3,000 billionaires, with virtually none coming from 100-year-old fortunes.
When you look at life through the lens of daily compounding—whether in personal growth or financial investment—it becomes clear how much potential is being left on the table. The compounding effect can turn small, consistent efforts into extraordinary results over time.
I hope this post serves as a reminder to everyone: wake up, put in the work, and change the world—by, you guessed it, compounding daily.