Your Mind Compounds Interest Too

The other day I was walking back home from dropping my toddler off at pre-school, and I was thinking about what books to read and what content to consume, but it got me thinking a bit about consuming content. I actually see it the same way as currency. Not the "invest in yourself bro" kind of way, but more the smart accumulative over many years kind. Same as your ETFs basically.

Everyone understands compounding interest with money, you start at $100, put in monthly and over many years it's worth a fortune. This math works out because time is on your side.

But why is it so much different with learning? I see many people consume content as a once-off. Oh nice book yeah, I watched that conference talk yes, but if you ask them what's one takeaway from it that sticked, more often than not they won't be able to tell you.

I prefer to see my mind as an asset portfolio, every book I read isn't just for today, it's an asset that can pay dividend for years to come. Every mistake I make today isn't just a bad day I want to forget, it's data I can reference forever. Every hard conversation isn't just something to get past. It's a pattern recognition building up in my brain that will help me next time.

Time is my currency and experience is my compound interest.

A while back I learned about "two truths" in a parenting book, the idea that two seemingly opposite things can both be true at the same time. I didn't just read about it and moved on. I tried using it with my toddler, my wife and even applied it as a manager in 1:1's where someone was frustrated and projects that didn't go smooth. That's the compound part, the longer you work with something (even through failures) the more valuable it becomes.

I'm definitely not special for doing this, nor is this something new. I'm just obsessive with squeezing value out of everything I learn, because my time is very limited. Not only do I have a toddler, a 4-week-old, full time job, in general we only get so much time in our lifetimes and I feel I need to optimize it. I can't afford to learn something once and forget about it a month later. If I'm going to invest I need it to actually compound.

And here's the other thing, when investing in currency you wouldn't just buy random stocks without at least glancing if they're doing well right? You would certainly not dump money into a poorly performing stock? You do some research. The same applies to how I spend my time now. I'm more selective about what I consume and who I spend time with. If something doesn't add value or help me grow, I skip it.

I waste less time now because I'm pickier about where I spend it. Not everything needs to be learned, not every book needs to be read. If something doesn't pass the "will this actually compound for me?" test, I skip it without guilt.

What this looks like for me

When I plan to read something now I'm always asking myself: does this connect to something I already know? Where would I actually use this? What's one thing I can actually apply this on this week? And how will I know it worked or not.

When I make mistakes (which happens quite often) I don't just move on and pretend it didn't happen. I own them, sit with them and analyze them. What did I expect would happen vs what actually happened. What would I do differently next time? This may take longer, but in the long term it saves you time a next time from this even happening.

And when something does work I don't just celebrate and move on, I try to understand why it worked, what conditions attributed to that success? How do I remember it 6 months from now?

None of this is complicated, but it takes time and some form of dedication. And that's the point, you're investing time now to save yourself way more time later on. You're building your own assets in your brain that pay dividends for years to come.

What kind of sucks about it, you can't just speed-read through a book, or collect insights like they are Pokemon cards. You need to actually take stuff in and store it.

You have to sit with things, revisit them and let them stir in your brain. It might feel like wasting time, but it beats having to learn things over and over. And 10 years from now, would you rather have consumed 1000 things, but completely forget them, or deeply understood 100 things that fundamentally changed how you work and life?

I know my answer.

This whole thing matters especially for engineering managers, because we can't just "learn" on paper how to give feedback or run hard 1:1's these things never work from a text-book. These aren't skills you master in a weekend workshop. They compound over years, every time you do them, you get a little bit better. Every mistake teaches you something new. Every success reinforces a pattern you can repeat.

The managers I respect the most aren't the ones who read the most management books or attended the most courses. They are the ones who've deeply internalized a few key concepts and build their own management style around that. They're legit, and people feel it! They definitely let their experience actually compound over time.

At the end of the day, my mind is my most valuable asset. Not my salary, title or resume, not even my network. My ability to learn something, actually internalize and apply it, this is what matters. I wouldn't spend my money on stupid things I don't actually need, so why would I spend my time on things that are stupid and I don't actually care about.

Time is my currency. I invest it carefully, maybe you should too?

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Let's connect on LinkedIn - do you compound your learnings?