"Okay, doubling a penny in a story is all very well. But I don't see anyone offering to double my money every day for a month, not in real life. Besides, even if I could get compound interest on a money account, how am I supposed to add up compound interest in health, or relationships, or knowledge?"
Fair enough. Let's change the question. Forget about doubling for a minute, and let's forget about compound interest, too, for the moment. Let's just add a penny every day, not double the penny. Do you think you could improve yourself-your health, your knowledge, your skills, your diet, your relationships, whatever area of life you want to look at - just one percent?
Wait - before you answer that, let's make it even smaller. What if you were able to improve yourself, today, just three-tenths of one percent? That's a 0.003 improvement - a very Slight Edge indeed. So slight, in fact, you might have a hard time even knowing how to measure it.
Now, what if you did that again tomorrow, and the next day, and kept it up every day for the next year? Remember, you're not going to add up compound interest this time, you're just adding on another three-tenths of one percent each day.
Here's what will happen. The first day you'll improve by 0.003, so little it will probably be impossible to notice. The second day, your improvement will be 0.006; the next day, 0.009, almost a full one percent. And by the end of the year, you will have improved by one hundred percent.
Doubled.
You will be twice what you are today - twice as fit, twice as wealthy, twice as skilled, twice as happy... twice as whatever it is you've been working on, in whatever areas you apply your daily three-tenths-percent effort. Twice the you, in just one year!
If you give yourself a year to do it, you can become twice the person you are today. Imagine having twice the net worth, twice the personal relationships, twice the health. Making twice the positive impact on the world. Having twice as much fun and enjoying twice the quality of life.
How could you possibly accomplish this? By trying twice as hard? Working twice as many hours? Have twice as positive an attitude? No - by improving three-tenths of one percent at a time.
Every day, in every moment, you get to exercise choices that will determine whether or not you will become a great person, living a great life. Greatness is not something predetermined, predestined or carved into your fate by forces beyond your control. Greatness is always in the moment of the decision.
But you have to start with a penny. And that's the great and tragic irony of it, the sad and terrible tale of the ninety-five percent: that little penny seems so insignificant, so small, so silly... why even bother to bend over and pick it up? After all...
Can you imagine walking into your bank to deposit a single penny into a savings account? Can you imagine looking in your savings account, deposit box or piggy bank, and finding a balance of $0.01? It might as well be a balance of zero, right? How much difference is there, right? I mean, we're talking about one penny! What could you buy with a penny?
You just might be able to buy financial freedom for the rest of your life.
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Nine Characteristics of Successful Real Estate Investors Vena Jones-Cox’s real estate business focuses on finding great deals on 1-3 family homes, then lease/optioning them to homeowners or wholesaling them to investors and renovators. All told, she buys and sells about 50 properties per year. »»
Vena Jones-Cox’s real estate business focuses on finding great deals on 1-3 family homes, then lease/optioning them to homeowners or wholesaling them to investors and renovators. All told, she buys and sells about 50 properties per year. 
