What do financial investing and emotional health have in common?
No, this has nothing to do with the idea that money makes you happy. I’m no financial guru and I’m not about to share tips on investing in stocks and shares. But one thing I know from the financial masters is that investing succeeds because of compounding.
Albert Einstein described compound interest as “the eighth wonder of the world”. It’s a faster way to grow money because you earn interest on interest. In a nutshell, you invest money which earns interest giving you a bigger sum of money. The following year, you earn interest on that bigger sum and this cycle continues causing exponential growth.
Now the miracle of compounding, as it’s sometimes called, doesn’t just apply to money. It works equally well in other areas including our emotional health.
There are many things we can do to take care of our emotional well-being. Each time, we make one of those “investments”, we lift our baseline mood to a higher level. The next “emotional investment” now has a different starting point. As your baseline mood is higher, you have the potential to lift your overall mood further by building on the previous investment.
You can get the idea from this graph:
I often come across three myths which keep people from believing in the compounding principle.
Myth #1
Only the big things, like a holiday, make a difference. Therefore it doesn’t make sense to do the small stuff.
Myth #2
Nothing makes a difference. I go for a walk, and I don’t feel better. I listen to music, and I still feel low. So why bother?
Myth #3
The only thing that will work is medication.
Darren Hardy, author of The Compound effect, points out that the benefits of compounding are seen when small, consistent actions are executed over time.
What this means in reality is that we have to keep on keeping on. The simple choices we make every day to enhance our well-being may not lead to immediate, tangible results. But there is a cumulative effect. And if we keep going, we will eventually reap the benefits.
If you’ve ever listened to the news, you’ll know that the stock market fluctuates. It changes on a day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute and even second-by-second basis. This is very like our emotional experiences. We too fluctuate depending on things like our physical state, thoughts and the events that are happening around us.
These emotional fluctuations are normal and don’t mean that all is lost. We have not been thrown off course. It’s OK to have setbacks. This is not the time to give up on your regular investments. Don’t get stuck in thinking that there is nothing you can do to improve your situation.
When I was a student, my final year research project involved working with people over the age of 80 years. I have some wonderful memories of collecting them from their residences and taking them to the hospital to participate. One of the things that fascinated me greatly, was how differently each had aged.
Some were physically fit and full of lively conversation whilst others were frail and quiet. I noticed very clearly that age wasn’t the defining factor. Being 90 didn’t equate to frailty and limited conversation just as being 80 didn’t guarantee the opposite.
I know it's complex and there are multiple factors which influence our aging but I can’t help but wonder if I was seeing a perfect example of compounding. Whether I was looking at the product of small, consistent actions that had been executed over time.
To emotional compounding!
Linda
Linda is a Speech and Language Therapist with a Masters in Human Communication. She works with neurodivergent people who want to develop their emotional well-being, communication & people skills. You can find out more at www.autismroutemap.com
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