Happy Wednesday, Wise Owl Nation!

Last week I talked about how important it is to focus on the process and not the results, because sometimes the results are either not what we want them to be, or it takes a long time to see the results we want.

This week I want to follow up on that to discuss the difference between inputs and outputs. How the variation in the effort you put into something can dramatically change the outcomes over time.

As I said, this is a follow-up issue, so if you did not read last week's issue, you should definitely check it out.

Read on and let's get into it.

You can find all past issues (including this one) here.

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Wisdom Tip of The Week: Output vs Input

We only have so much time and energy to assign to goals, tasks, etc each week. So the way you think about how you want to spend your energy (inputs) is important if you want to create a long term sustainable result (outcome/output)

James Clear, one of my favorite writers has a fun quote pertaining to thinking about succeeding at a new goal.

"Before you begin, think as if you are a lazy person. Imagine the competition will work harder. Your only chance is a better strategy.

After you begin, work as if you are a dumb person. Imagine the competition is smarter and more talented. Your only chance is to outwork them."

I love this advice because it forces you to hit a problem from every angle.

I consider myself an inherently lazy person. Some of my friends and family would vehemently disagree because they only see the outputs of my work and rarely see the inputs.

The friends and family that see the inputs would undoubtedly agree that I try as hard as possible to create systems that allow me to work smart instead of working hard. At least in the beginning.

My favorite version of hard work is long-term consistency. I've written a Wise Owl Wednesday newsletter for 47-weeks straight, and basically, every single one of these articles was written on Wednesday morning.

Why? Because I am inherently lazy and know that if I tried to write it ahead of time, it wouldn't be as good. Seriously.

The format and structure of this newsletter is designed in such a way, that all I need to do each week is think of a concept or an idea and then apply that concept or idea across wisdom, health, and wealth. You'd be surprised at how many concepts are universally applicable.

This allows my inputs and energy to create the outputs that I desire. A newsletter that (I hope) adds value to you every single week.

The concept that James mentioned above is powerful. Create a plan that makes it easy to get started and keep going, and then change your mentality to one of consistency and dependability. If you did a good job creating a repeatable system, then it will be easier to put in the work long term.

🥑 Health Tip of The Week: Small changes lead to big results, over time

The wealth section this week is pretty long, has pretty pictures, and illustrates a similar concept, so I won't go wild with the health section this week.

Regarding becoming a healthier person, there are some serious "smart cuts" you can take in the beginning to find early success, but in the end, a consistent and repeatable process will yield the best long-term results.

Process over Results, but make sure you are putting in the work (inputs) that can create the results you want (outcomes/outputs)

For me, I think about what are the smallest changes I can make in my lifestyle that can produce the biggest results.

Common/Obvious things like:

• 15-30 minutes of walking a day
• Drinking 1-2 liters of water every day (or drinking 2-4 bottles of water)
• Only eating two meals a day

And then a few weird actions I want to try like:

• Doing 5-10 pushups before each work meeting
• Using a standing desk and bouncing on the balls of my feet during meetings
• Letting my fiance DoorDash(order me) me healthy food once in a while instead of ordering the food I want for myself (scary)

These are small changes to my lifestyle that take very little time.

Take the pushup example. My job has on average 5 meetings a day. That equates to 25-50 pushups every. single. workday.

That adds up over time! That is 500-1000 pushups a month! You know that is going to have a great long-term effect on my strength and metabolism over time.

Small inputs, repeated consistently, can generate wild outputs.

💲 Wealth Tip of The Week: Compound Interest Takes time

This is an important topic for me regarding wealth because I see a lot of misinformation on the internet. I am a strong believer that every single one of you should be knowledgeable regarding all areas of self-improvement.

This goes for all areas of wealth generation as well.

I read all the time that compounding is the most powerful tool ever created for building wealth. This isn't exactly wrong, but there is a big caveat to this statement.

Compound interest is the most powerful tool ever created for building wealth, over multiple decades of time.

Yes, it takes a very long time for the compounding part of investing to show its effects. The amount you invest each month is even more critical to this equation.

Let me show you two examples:

I hope you can see the specifics of the image above. If you can't I will rehash what it shows.

You invest $5,000 upfront and then continue to invest $1,000 a month assuming an average 5% annualized return to be extremely conservative.

• After 10 years you will have approximately $164,164.34 and $39,164.34 of that will be from compound interest.
• After 20 years you will have approximately $426,309.51 and $181,309.52 of that will be from compound interest
• After 30 years you will have approximately $858,065.10 and a whopping $493,065.09 of that will come from compound interest.

So in this example, it takes thirty years for the compounding to overtake the total amount you have invested.

Now let's look at a different example. In this next example, you worked on the other areas of wealth generation to create a larger gap of opportunity so that you could invest an additional $250/month.

The numbers are pretty significantly different, especially over time.

You still invest $5,000 upfront and then continue to invest $1,250 a month assuming an average 5% annualized return to be extremely conservative.

• After 10 years you will have approximately $203,146.66 and $48,146.66 of that will be from compound interest.
• After 20 years you will have approximately $529,496.09 and $224,496.09 of that will be from compound interest
• After 30 years you will have approximately $1,066,966.70 and a whopping $611,966.69 of that will come from compound interest.

With just a small increase in investment each month, your long-term compounding forecast dramatically increases.

These numbers may seem crazy to you, but you can always start investing now while working on reducing expenses, increasing income, and paying off debt to increase that "gap of opportunity"

The energy you input into everything you do will have a dramatic change in the output you create, especially over the long term.

The best time to start is yesterday. The second best time to start is now. The worst time to start is tomorrow.

Small steps, made consistently, can change your entire world.

Quotes of the week:

There is no singular path to success. Be yourself, experiment with many different things, and then do what works for you. Ignore what other people think and instead inspire them to be themselves and find their own path.

You all are the best <3.

Have a great week!

This concludes our issue this week, I hope it gave you some perspective or injected a little motivation into your life!

If it helped, let me know! I read every newsletter response I receive, and I absolutely love hearing from all of you. This newsletter is for you, so I need your help to make it as great as possible.

If you'd like to show me some love for writing all this free stuff, you can always buy me a coffee.

More Resources

I will be adding to this section over time as we find resources that will help you all.

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