#266 | Hands Down, the Cheesiest Self-Help Book I’ve Ever Shared on the Podcast—So Why Am I Sharing It?
Quick SUMMARY:
Douglas Vigliotti spotlights Darren Hardy’s “The Compound Effect”, a self-help book about the transformative power of small, consistent choices over time. Vigliotti discusses Hardy’s background, the book’s core message of personal agency, and shares how the concept of compounding influenced his own life. He encourages listeners to embrace daily actions for meaningful change, regardless of traditional definitions of success, and to embrace the powerful concept of compounding despite the book’s wrapping.
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TOPICS COVERED IN the EPISODE:
Introduction to the Podcast and Newsletter (00:09) - Douglas introduces "Books for Men," this episode’s book, and mentions the monthly companion newsletter.
About Darren Hardy and His Background (01:21) - Overview of Darren Hardy’s career, his books, and his role as publisher of Success magazine.
Why Share "The Compound Effect"? (02:25) - Douglas explains his reasons for featuring this self-help book and introduces the concept of compounding.
The Power of Compounding Explained (03:40) - Discussion of compounding, its impact on life and skills, and how both good and bad choices compound.
Redefining Success and Personal Agency (05:08) - Douglas shares his views on success, referencing Bob Dylan, and emphasizes the book’s focus on agency and choices.
Responsibility and Control in Life (06:17) - Reflection on personal responsibility, free will, and controlling attitude and actions despite life’s unfairness.
Personal Story: How the Book Changed Douglas’s Life (07:39) - Douglas recounts how reading "The Compound Effect" influenced his creative journey and life direction.
Final Thoughts and Podcast Outro (10:20) - Douglas encourages subscribing, shares contact info, promotes his new book, and reminds listeners about the newsletter.
READ THE TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week I have a non-fiction book to share with you. It is self-help. I don't think I've shared a pure self-help book in a very long time, but this one is called “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. It's around 172 pages, and it came out in 2011. Of course, I will share a lot more about why I am sharing this book on the podcast. Also, more about the author and the big idea that surrounds it. But before I do any of that, I wanted to remind you about the companion newsletter that goes out once a month that rounds up all of the episodes from that month, complete with full book and author information, episode summaries, all of my favorite quotes, additional book recommendations, and also some helpful links. So if you just want the meat and potatoes, maybe you're short on time, then I would highly suggest checking that out. And if you are interested, all you have to do is visit the website BooksforMen.org.
01:21 - Alrighty, so back to the work at hand. Of course, I always like to start with the author and Darren Hardy. Oh, Darren Hardy. So I think he's written three books, including the one that I'm sharing with you today. I think of them less as a writer, though, and I'm not even sure if he's actually written these books. He's primarily an entrepreneur with training and mentor programs, but mostly known as a motivational speaker, a central figure in that world of things. So someone in the same vein as Jim Rohn or T. Harv Eker, Tony Robbins. It's a world that mostly circles around business, self-help, and “success”, as in, how to get rich, which is something that I will address in a moment. I don't have anything bad to say about him or anything that he represents necessarily. I believe he probably provides a valuable service to the world, but I guess at this point in my life, it's just so far from what I represent and want to share with the world.
02:25 - But the question then begs, why am I sharing this book on the podcast? And of course, I will dish on that in just a moment. But I should tell you, well, just a little bit more about him, because I kind of went off track there, and that is, he was the publisher of SUCCESS magazine, a property that dates back to 1897, featured classic self-help authors like Napoleon Hill. You might recognize the name because you wrote the iconic self-help book “Think and Grow Rich”, but I believe Darren Hardy didn't acquire the magazine and become the official publisher until 2007. So I think you have a good understanding of who he is. And again, I don't have anything bad to say about him. And you might be wondering why I'm actually featuring a book of this nature on the podcast. So plain and simple. This is a no-frills book about what I believe to be one incredibly important concept known as compounding. Even more simply, this book, in particular, is about the power of choices. So it's a book about agency, and in that way, it is empowering.
03:40 - Or it's like Darren Hardy writes in the book, “Small, smart choices + consistency + time = radical difference.” Another way to look at this is that what you do daily doesn't just add; it multiplies exponentially in most cases. And of course, there is the financial example of what most people know as compound interest, which can be observed by a penny that doubles every day for 30 days, and eventually that penny has become $5.4 million. And most of those gains didn't occur until the final 4 or 5 days. So while this is a mathematical truth in theory, with soft skills or your life, let's say, this is easily observed by anybody who has tried to learn any skill, like say, playing an instrument. They didn't just pick it up and know how to play the guitar. It takes iterative practice that compounds day after day, session after session. But here's the catch with compounding: it could go in the opposite direction, just as exponentially. So anything can compound good or bad. So good choices or bad choices, it all compounds year after year, day after day.
05:08 - For me, this is the real life-changing idea, one that goes far beyond any measure of quote-unquote success. And as I mentioned at the top of this episode, or in the middle somewhere in this episode, I sort of hate the idea of achieving success. It really doesn't hold much weight in the way that I view the world, necessarily. I sort of like to ascribe to Bob Dylan's notion, or at least something that he said, once, “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” I know that definition won't be the same for everybody, but to me, there's probably no greater aspiration. Maybe it's selfish, I don't know, but I definitely see a lot of truth in it, and it's something that resonates with me. But even if that's the idea that you aspire to, then I think this book will help you. Yes, even though it is about business self-help, I am sharing it with you because no other book points to compounding.
06:17 - As in the concept, so directly, like this book does. And in my view of the world, as I already mentioned, it is so important to your life that it cannot be overlooked. Barring an acute onset of good or bad luck. So, something instant and random compounding is the thing that is most likely to shape your life. And of course, this brings into question the issue of free will, a topic that I will not get into in this episode, one that is very complicated if you go down the rabbit hole. But I still think that for most of us, it's easier to buy into the idea that, as Darren Hardy writes in this book, “You alone are responsible for what you do, don't do, or how you respond to what's done to you.” Or even more simply put, “You can only control two things in life: your attitude and your actions.” And I'm completely empathetic to all of the injustices and shitty situations that many of us find ourselves in. Things that were thrust upon us. But it is important to remember this tough pill. And that's just because something is unfair doesn't mean it's not your responsibility.
07:45 - So I'll tell you a quick story to end this episode. And as much as I've railed on this notion of getting rich and achieving success because I sort of don't ascribe to it at this point in my life, there was a guy once named Douglas Vigliotti who picked this very book up in an airport back in the early 2010s and read it on a cross-country flight, and it would be convenient for that guy to say it didn't change his life, but that would be a lie. So, minus out all of the ultra ego shit. And who wants to be a millionaire stuff. What you're left with is an idea that can help you create anything. Most importantly, change. But sort of like God, you have to believe in compounding for it to work. So that day I picked it up. I was lost in a world of what I thought this book was trying to help me achieve money things. Success as in getting rich. And that's fine for the majority of people who want to aspire to that.
08:59 - I don't anymore, but it would be alive for me to say that this book, the very thing that I now don't give a shit about, is the thing that was the catalyst for me to eventually write novels, have a literary podcast about books, All things that I never thought that I would do, but iteratively got to in my life. It wasn't a direct line, but so much of my life, I could definitively say, has been impacted by this idea of compounding. I made a commitment to do small actions that had no real financial incentive to them at all, daily. And this is where I've ended up. Now, you don't have to read this book to believe in the idea of compounding or understand it for that matter. But I will say this cheesy short book will definitely drive it home. Or perhaps, as Darren Hardy writes in the book, “You make your choices, and then your choices make you.” Okay. So that's all I've got. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, I wanted to remind you to please click subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on.
10:20 - It is the best way for new listeners to find the show and, in return, inspire more men to read. If you want to reach out to me, maybe tell me what you thought about this episode or the podcast. More broadly, there are two ways to do so on Instagram @DouglasVigliotti. It's the only social media that I have or via my website DouglasVigliotti.com. I do have a new book that is out. It is titled “Aristotle for Novelists: 14 Timeless Principles on the Art of Story”. And if you're interested in learning more about that, you can on the website AristotleforNovelists.com. Last but not least, I want to thank you for listening and remind you that if you want more information on this podcast specifically, which includes signing up for the newsletter that I mentioned at the top of this episode, then all you have to do is visit the website BooksforMen.org.
