The ONE Life-Changing Decision You Can Make Today: #1 Step to Achieve Big Goals | Swami Mukundananda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ
Main Points: 1. 0:02 – 0:20 → Small decisions made consistently create a big difference through the law of incremental growth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=0 2. 0:30 – 0:52 → Example: Two friends must choose between $3 million today or a penny doubling for 31 days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=30 3. 1:15 – 1:46 → Initially, the doubling penny looks worthless compared to millions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=75 4. 2:02 – 2:33 → By the 20th day, still only $5,243—appears insignificant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=122 5. 2:26 – 2:56 → But by the 29th day $2.7M, 30th $5.4M, and 31st $10.7M—showing the power of compounding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=146 6. 3:07 – 3:37 → Applied to life: three friends (Ram Dutt, Shiv Dutt, Vishnu Dutt) start with similar jobs and lifestyles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=187 7. 3:40 – 4:27 → Ram Dutt makes positive small changes (less calories, daily inspiration), Vishnu Dutt makes negative ones (extra calories, thrillers), Shiv Dutt does nothing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=220 8. 5:36 – 6:18 → In 18–31 months: Ram Dutt becomes fit, inspired, and progressing; Vishnu Dutt gains weight, loses energy, and faces stress; Shiv Dutt remains stagnant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=336 9. 6:18 – 8:12 → Vishnu Dutt’s small indulgences lead to poor health, stress, job risk, and strained relationships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=378 10. 8:31 – 9:16 → Meanwhile, Ram Dutt’s small positive corrections bring health, success, and respect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=511 11. 9:44 – 10:28 → Lesson: people overestimate big one-day change but underestimate small daily change repeated over time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=584 12. 12:20 – 13:23 → Like a merry-go-round, small pushes build momentum; once momentum is there, life sails ahead—small consistent decisions create massive results. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag6ISqA3yXQ&t=740 Full Text
Intro
0:02
The little decisions
0:05
when they are repeatedly made they make
0:09
a big difference.
0:13
The law of incremental growth states
0:16
that one step at a time you move towards
0:20
the ultimate goal.
0:23
How does it happen?
How does it happen
0:30
Consider this example.
0:34
You may have heard of it.
0:37
There were two friends
0:40
Ram Dutt and Shiv Dutt.
0:43
They were given a choice.
0:46
either take
0:48
$3 million today
0:52
or take one penny which will keep
0:55
doubling for 31 days. So Ram Dutt said $3
1:00
million
1:03
a bird in hand is better than two
1:06
in the bush.
1:08
And Shiv Dutt said no I'll go for the
1:12
doubling penny.
1:15
After 5 days Shiv Dutt had reached 16 pence
1:21
You see the second day it became 2 then
1:24
four then 8 then 16.
1:28
So Ram Dutt is gloating away. I've got 3
1:31
million. You've got 16 pence. What a wrong
1:35
choice you made.
1:38
After 10 days, now it became 32,64
1:42
128. He has reached $5 & 12 cents
1:50
in front of 3 million. My god, you had
1:55
absolutely no sense to go for such an
1:59
alternative.
2:02
After 20 days,
2:05
he has reached $5,243.
2:13
Still nowhere near 3 million. Ram Dutt is
2:16
confident my decision was the right one.
2:22
But that keeps on doubling.
2:26
And on the 29th day he has reached $2.7
2:30
million.
2:33
It's a compounding growth. He is drawing
2:37
close.
2:42
On the 30th day he has overtaken with
2:45
5.4 million. And on the 31st day, he has
2:50
blown him away with $10.7 million.
2:56
This is how a little change done
3:00
continuously over time makes such a big
3:04
difference.
3:07
Now apply this to your life. Consider
3:13
there are three friends now to Ram Dutt
3:16
and Shiv Dutt. You add one Vishnu Dutt as
3:19
well.
3:21
They are all in their early 30s.
3:26
They are recently married. They are a little bit
3:29
plump but nothing out of shape.
3:31
They all have got nice steady jobs in
3:34
the middle management level about 80,000
3:37
a year.
3:40
Life is going on all right for three of
3:42
them. Now they make a little correction
3:45
in their life.
3:48
Ram Dutt started coming for Swami ji's life
3:51
transformation program
3:54
where he learned the art of mind
3:56
management and received some inspiration
3:59
and some knowledge about good health. So
4:02
he became conscious that health is
4:05
wealth. He decided I will reduce my
4:08
intake of calories by 125 every day.
4:14
That's not a big deal, right? 125
4:16
calories less. And also for half an
4:20
hours he is listening to Swami ji's art
4:22
of mind management and getting inspired
4:25
through YouTube.
4:27
So his mentality, his perspective is
Reverse correction
4:30
changing.
4:33
Now on the other hand,
4:36
Vishnu Dutt did a reverse correction.
4:39
He learned how to cook cakes and
4:42
pastries and his friends and relatives
4:45
loved it. So once in a week he calls
4:48
them for a party
4:50
and he's into cooking. So he has
4:54
increased his intake of calories by 125
4:58
every day. Again, not a big deal. 125
5:01
how does it matter but his extra spare
5:06
time while Ram Dutt is watching art of mind
5:09
management Vishnu Dutt is watching
5:12
thrillers on TV so what half an hour
5:15
waste of time “chalta hai”
5:19
Shiv Dutt he is remaining as he is
5:24
now after five months if you see this
5:28
Ram Dutt and Shiv Dutt and Vishnu Dutt are
5:30
practically the same. They made a little
5:33
correction. It's not visible anywhere.
5:36
What is the difference?
5:39
But it keeps on adding up day after day,
5:43
month after month, year after year.
5:47
After 18 months, the difference is
5:51
visible. Ram Dutt's eyes are brighter.
5:56
His health seems to be in better shape.
6:00
He seems to be becoming little slim and
6:02
trim
6:04
and Shiv Dutt is remaining like the same
6:07
but Vishnu Dutt seems to be getting a
6:10
little out of shape. The effulgence on
6:14
his face is disappearing etc.
6:18
After 31 months the difference is so
6:23
visible.
6:25
Ram Dutt has lost 20 lb and he is fit.
6:31
Shiv Dutt he is the way he was and Vishnu Dutt
6:36
has gained 20 lb.
6:39
But the matter doesn't stop out here.
6:43
There's a ripple effect from that
6:45
because he has gained 20 lb now he needs
6:48
more sleep.
6:50
So in the morning when he has to wake up
6:53
and go to office he becomes groggy
6:57
and that's why his performance in this
6:59
cutting edge environment has reduced.
7:03
The consequence is his boss is annoyed
7:06
with him and pulls him up. Your
7:09
performance is not up to mark. Your job
7:12
is in danger.
7:14
When he comes back home from office he's
7:17
stressed out.
7:19
How does he entertain himself through
7:22
the thrillers on TV? He never heard the
7:25
art of mind management. So he doesn't
7:27
have the tools of how to manage his
7:29
mind.
7:31
And the consequence is that the only way
7:33
he can take out his stress is to become
7:36
a couch potato. He sits in front of the
7:39
TV and drowns his tensions by looking at
7:41
thrillers. And those thrillers don't
7:44
solve his problem in any case.
7:48
But this is also bearing upon his
7:51
marital relationship because his wife
7:55
understands he is no longer the same
7:57
person and she feels that the distance
8:00
is getting created.
8:03
She is also responding by more cold
8:06
behavior.
8:07
So the relationship has got strained
8:12
and naturally because of the increased
8:15
weight the health has reduced.
8:18
Now I imagine on day one when he made a
8:22
little change, would you ever have
8:26
thought that the situation would reach
8:28
this point one day?
8:31
And on the other hand, take a look at
8:34
Ram Dutt. The little correction he made.
8:39
He is now in good health. He has his
8:42
mind in a perfect state. So he's very
8:46
amenable (happy to accept everything). People realize that positive
8:49
energy. They connect with him easily
8:53
because he's so inspired. He performs
8:56
better at work and his boss realizes
8:59
that he is going places.
9:02
There was an opening in the company.
9:04
Ram Dutt was offered the job and he is now
9:07
risen ahead
9:10
and he is well respected everywhere in
9:13
society doing well with his family. All
9:16
is going well.
9:19
And on the other hand, you take a look
9:21
at Shiv Dutt. He made no changes. He's just
9:24
remaining the same. Sometimes he gets
9:27
bored day in and day out. The same thing
Overestimating
9:31
in this way.
9:33
The little steps that we take in
9:37
the long run, they add up to a huge
9:42
difference.
9:44
Invariably
9:46
people overestimate
9:49
the change they can do in one day.
9:53
They overestimate oh Swami ji said this
9:57
let me do it and if it doesn't happen I can't
10:00
do it.
10:02
So they think in one day they'll go from
10:04
sinner to saint and when it doesn't
10:07
happen they become disappointed.
10:10
So people are overestimating
10:13
what change they can do in one day
10:17
but they are underestimating
10:20
what a little change when repeated over
10:23
time can make a difference to your life.
10:28
Consider this analogy. When the plane
10:30
takes off
10:32
from Dallas, the DFW airport to Seattle,
10:37
it has to be on course. If it changes
10:40
course by 3°, it will not end up in
10:44
Seattle. It will end up somewhere else.
10:48
So in this way, we need to make the
10:53
changes in our life with these small
10:56
small decisions.
10:59
And that is where we don't understand
11:04
their importance because they seem so
11:07
small.
11:09
The first day when you had a drink of
11:13
alcohol, if it immediately created a
11:16
cirrhosis of the liver, nobody would ever
11:19
touch it.
11:21
But on one day's basis, there seems to
11:24
be no difference.
11:26
The first day when you had that double
11:28
ice cream, if the extra fat caused a
11:32
heart attack, then nobody would ever
11:34
take a double ice cream.
11:36
The first day you puffed a cigarette, if
11:39
your face gained another 20 years,
11:42
nobody would ever smoke.
11:44
The changes are so small that we don't
11:48
seem to realize,
11:50
but these small changes start adding up.
11:55
First we make the choices
11:58
and then the choices we have made they
12:03
make us.
12:06
They start adding up and the momentum
12:09
builds up. This is called the “Big Mo”.
12:15
A little thing becomes big later on.
12:20
Just consider
12:23
the merry go round on which we used to
12:25
play as little children.
12:28
There was this fulcrum and the disc
12:31
which was put on it the children first
12:35
when they start pushing because of the
12:38
frictional resistance it's difficult to
12:41
make it gather momentum. You have to
12:44
push hard
12:46
but slowly it starts moving.
12:50
And then it's moving faster and faster
12:53
and the child is running until that
12:56
Merry go round is flying. The child lifts
13:00
her feet onto it and is sailing along
13:04
with the merry go round. The momentum has
13:07
been built.
13:09
In case it slows down, all that's
13:12
required is put one's foot down, give it
13:14
a kick, and come back again. In the same
13:17
way in life,
13:20
the little decisions
13:23
when they are repeatedly made, they make
13:27
a big difference.
Standby link (in case youtube link does not work)
The ONE Life-Changing Decision You Can Make Today #1 Step to Achieve Big Goals Swami Mukundananda.mp4
