The Compounding Effect of Small Choices

When I was about 24 years old I made a choice that ended up having a profound impact on my life for years to come.

It wasn't the decision to get married or to start a family. It wasn't a momentous career move. It was simply the decision that from that day forward I would put aside 20 percent of everything I earned toward my future.

At the time, with what I was earning then, we weren't talking about a lot of money, which is why it could not be considered a big deal at the time I made the choice. But I had time on my side, and as my income grew over the years, I just naturally kept the habit going. That seemingly modest choice I made back then ultimately made it possible for me to be in a position where I could retire at age 40 if I wanted to. (As it turns out, I didn't want to—I love my work too much.)

Small Choices Can Lead to BIG Changes

Our life is governed and shaped by the choices we make. We all understand this at some level, which is why we tend to focus so much on the "big" choices in life—where to go to college, what career to enter, when to start a family, buy a home, etc.

But the truth is, those big choices are often the easiest because we do tend to give them a lot of thought. All too often, though, it is the smaller choices, the ones that may not seem so significant at the time you make them, that can end up having a profound effect on your life.

Examine the choices you make in the so-called "routine parts" of your personal and practice life—your choices with money, with your health and fitness, the experience you provide to patients, the way you interact with and lead your team. Most of these decisions will not seem hugely significant in the moment, but the simple choices you commit to in these areas will ultimately be the ones that end up defining what kind of life you have, in and out of the practice.


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