When someone last talked to you about logarithmic and exponential growth curves, you probably had flashbacks that you took math in school. Whether it's good or bad memories, it doesn't matter to you, because we're not talking about mathematical calculations today. Today the growth curves we're talking about have everything to do with your personal development and growth.
What are the 2 types of growth curves?
Two types of growth curves, the most common are logarithmic growth curves and exponential growth curves. In fact, they are opposite to each other. I'll start by explaining the exponential growth curve, since this is one people tend to be more familiar with.
Exponential Growth Curves
An exponential growth curve is when the slope of the curve gets bigger and bigger as you move along it.((Institute of Operations and Management Science: Misperceptions of Exponential Growth: Do People Realize Their Mistakes?)) The best way to represent an exponential curve if you don't know the way it looks is to think about an investment portfolio. As time goes by, your investment grows in value, and through compound interest, you make more money year after year than you did in the previous year. For example, you invested $100 and received 10% profit. At the end of the year, you would have $110. Now next year they say that you again received 10% profit, but now you have $110 in the account. This means that you received $11 this year, $1 more than the previous year. As time goes by, this gap between years gets bigger and bigger, and the slope of the curve gets steeper and steeper! Now let's talk a little about logarithmic growth curves.
Logarithmic Growth Curves
The logarithmic growth curve is the opposite of the exponential growth curve. In a logarithmic growth curve, the curved line starts going up very stteply, and then over time the slope of the line steadily decreases until it becomes practically flat. Try to imagine how you start running 100 meters. If you start from a stop and then take off from a shot, your speed will increase rapidly during the first few seconds. However, as you get to the 30-50m mark, you would be running pretty fast, so it will be harder to run even faster, but you can still do it if you try. By the time you get to the 80m mark, you're probably running at maximum speed for you, and neither in trading nor speed increases here will be minimal. There are two examples of the types of curves that we are talking about in terms of personal development and growth today. ((James is clear: on 2 types of growth: which of these growth curves are you?)) Let's move on today to our conversation about why this information can help you move forward!
How Understanding Growth Curves Benefits Your Development
They always say that knowledge is power. I believe this is partly true. I prefer to think of knowledge as potential power. You could have all the knowledge in the world, but if you do not know how or not to apply this knowledge, then why do you need it? So, let's find out how understanding each type of growth curve can benefit you as you journey through your personal development and growth path.
Understanding Exponential Growth Curves
As we have already discussed, an exponential growth curve is where the slope of the curve increases at a steep rate. We have used the investment portfolio example here. However, this is very applicable to your growth journey. Have you ever noticed that if you constantly practice certain skills, you get better and better at them? Of course you have. This is pretty general knowledge, as you practice something you get better and better. Some skills will undergo exponential growth or lead to exponential growth in certain areas of your life. An example that comes to mind is entrepreneurship. They say that making the first million in any business is always the hardest. Why? Because it takes time to develop and gain experience to make the first million. You must learn the lessons and develop the skills that will enable you to achieve this goal. So what do you think happens when you go to make your second million after you've already made your first? Do you think it will take less time or more time? It will take less time, right? You have already developed the skills and experience you need to achieve this goal. Therefore, over time, your profits will be bigger and bigger as you work on those skills. Why is it important? This is important because it shows us that for skills using exponential growth, there is a significant learning curve at the very beginning, but as time goes by as we develop these skills, things get easier and easier and ours gives you more and more! Understanding this rising curve can remind us that things don't always come easy to us, that you need to put in work up front to achieve those goals, but once you've put in that significant amount of upfront work, your efforts will start to pay you back. in the form of dividends in the long run.
Understanding Logarithmic Growth Curves
Remember that logarithmic growth curves are essentially the opposite in appearance to exponential growth curves. The slope of the curve is very steep at the beginning, but the slope gradually decreases over time until the line is almost flat. A real example of this can be seen in top level athletes and the work they put into their athletic and physical abilities, or people who study for exams as they try to learn and consume material things. Let's start with the student. Any student will tell you that the difference between 50% on an exam and 70% is not significant. This is a 20% jump. However, they will also tell you that the difference in effort required to get 90% versus 95% is often massive. This is a jump of only 5% of this time, but the effort to make this jump is much higher than the original 20% jump completed earlier. Athletes experience similar cases in regards to their physical performance. Let's talk about the sprinter. When you first start training for running, you are probably pretty slow. However, as you practice and learn proper form, you will be able to carve 5 seconds off your 200m sprint in a few weeks without much effort. Then, as you continue to practice and improve your technique, you can shave off a few seconds as you become more proficient. However, after reaching elite levels of sprinting, the effort and commitment that it takes to shave off even just 1 second, or even less, is truly enormous! So why is understanding this growth curve important? What understanding of this curve can teach us is that in order to achieve a truly elite level of performance in certain skills, you have to work hard. Yes, you are going to see a lot of improvement in the very beginning, but as time goes by, as you progress, it will become harder and harder to reach the next level. You have to ask yourself if you are willing to put in the work to reach those levels on your development path. Are you ready to work harder than everyone else? Are you ready to work as the top 1% to be in the top 1%?
Putting It All Together
Now that you understand the different growth curves and how they can apply to your life, let's talk about the critical pieces of information to take away from this article. The main thing to understand about growth curves for personal development is to determine which curve is most likely to apply to the skill you are developing, so you can prepare yourself mentally for the challenges that you will inevitably have to face. For example, let's take exponential skills as our first example. We know that the growth we see in these skills early on is minimal. Later, in the process, you see the fruits of your labors. Therefore, you must prepare yourself mentally for the early disappointments you are likely to experience. Understand that even if you don't see much initial success, the effort you put in now is towards a much bigger goal and will come back later. Now let's look at logarithmic skills. It's the other way around. Growth here is fast at first, but over time the returns on your efforts diminish as you get closer to the elite levels. Now the task is reversed. Now you must do your best not to let your ego get too big as your growth increases dramatically at first, and you must also prevent yourself from getting discouraged later on when the process of growth becomes more difficult. Apply these lessons to your life. Mentally prepare yourself for the challenges that lie ahead of you. If you can master the mind on your personal development course, you have already overcome one of the massive hurdles that more people will succumb to!
Final Thoughts
The two most common types of growth curves, exponential and logarithmic, can be applied to many areas of your life and skills that you are interested in investing time and effort. Try to apply here are the lessons that will help you overcome the obstacles in your path. However, make sure you remember that all this knowledge means nothing if you are not ready to apply it.
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