I don't know what the future may hold but I know who holds the future - Ralph Abernathy
A couple of months ago I wrote an article entitled ‘Fall into the Groove; Gain Momentum’ Check http://ow.ly/6ixE2 , I shared some thoughts about my observation that enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind. It is clear that success requires first expending more effort to produce less outcomes, but over time, you get to build momentum that enables one to achieve more epic results with less efforts.
Which one do you prefer: linear growth or exponential growth? Do you want your progress to be at the same pace year after year or do you want it to be increasingly faster? I’m sure you prefer exponential growth. After all, it enables you to achieve more with less effort over time.
To achieve exponential growth, the key is to exercise the power of leverage. The more you use the power of leverage, the faster your progress will be. On the other hand, those who don’t exercise the power of leverage will need to work just as hard every time to get the same results
‘Success requires first expending ten units of effort to produce one unit of results. Your momentum will then produce ten units of results with each unit of effort’ ~ Charles J. Givens
Exercising Leverage:
I believe that leverage is so important that you should make it a part of your lifestyle. You need to live a lifestyle of leverage. That means seeking potential leverages constantly and using them whenever possible. To see whether or not you are living a lifestyle of leverage, ask yourself this question:
Do I achieve more with less effort over time?
The more you can answer yes to the question, the more you make leverage a part of your lifestyle. Here are two things you should do to live a lifestyle of leverage:
Creatively use what you already have to build new things.
Here the focus is on the present. Look at what you already have and find how you can use them to build new things. If you have a business then find what new businesses you can build based on it. If you have a machine then find other ways to use the machine. Think of what leverageable assets you should build.
Here the focus is on the future. Instead of looking at what you now have, look ahead and think of what you want to leverage in the future. This way you can start building those assets so that they will be ready by the time you need them. Without such a planning, years might pass before you realize that you have nothing to leverage. Start working now to make your future easier.
The ability to build leverageable assets (a term I learned from Investopedia) means - The use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return of an investment. Leverage is a good way to see whether or not a career is good for you. There are many people who just work year after year without ever building leverageable assets. Consequently, ten years from now they may need to work almost as hard as they do today to get the same results. Choose a career that helps you build leverageable assets.
The following is an incomplete list of leverageable assets you can build and use:
1. Contacts
I once heard from my mentor that “Your Network determines Your Networth”. Your network is a great source of leverage. When you need something you don’t have, you can reach out to your network to see if someone has it. Even if you can do something yourself, chance is there is someone in your network who can do it faster and better than you.
To maximize your network’s leverage potential, you should know people from as many different backgrounds as possible. It won’t help you much if all the people you know have similar backgrounds.
Of course, to be able to extract value from your network you should invest in it first. Help people in your network sincerely. Yes, I repeat it, Help other in your network sincerely.
2. Knowledge and skills
When you already master something, you can use it to quickly learn related skills and knowledge. What you know becomes a foundation to build upon. For example, I learn from my Cousin Micah that in the programming world once you know a programming language it will be easier for you to learn a second language. Why? Because there are similarities between programming languages and you can use your knowledge of the first language to learn a second one. (Tech Speak)
There is a category of skills that has especially high leverage power: transferable skills. Transferable skills are skills that are useful across different fields. Some examples are people skills, time management (or, even better, energy management), marketing, and communication skills. You can use these skills in many different circumstances, so they are something you should pay special attention to. The more transferable skills you learn, the more leverage power you have.
We must develop knowledge optimization initiatives to leverage our key learnings. ~Scott Adams
3. Passions
Just like you can leverage your knowledge, you can also leverage your passions. Your passions act like a power source that motivates you to go further and dig deeper than you would normally do.
So use your passions to your advantage. Follow them and tap into the energy they provide. Leveraging your passions helps you overcome the initial period of fear of failure on your way to success.
4. Achievements
You can use what you’ve already achieved to achieve even more with less effort. Let’s say you already build a successful business. You can use that business as a basis to build a new business. You may promote your new business to your existing customers. Or you may assign some of your staff from the first business to the second one. You may also use the equipment of the first business to build the new business. As you can see, there are many ways to leverage what you already achieve.
5. Money
Money has great leverage power as long as you use it wisely. Instead of spending the money you earn on consumable goods, reinvest a significant part of it. Use it to buy and leverage other people’s time and expertise. Use it to buy tools and equipment. Use it to experiment with new opportunities.
There you have it. Go ahead assess some of the assets you have now that you could leverage to build a new business or expand the existing one, attract a new job or bring forth some new in your life. Exercise the power of leverage.
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