Self-help, self-improvement, and advice have been around since ancient times, and the invention of the printing press made them widely available. Their heyday began in the latter 1800s, fueled by the book Self-Help (1859) by Samuel Smiles, who preached the virtues of hard work and perseverance. Such books have only increased in popularity since then.

Self-improvement books cover all sorts of how-to topics—cooking, housekeeping, home ownership, sports and hobbies, dating, and etiquette, to name a few. One of the most successful subgenres contain inspirational books on how best to live one’s life. Some are religious in nature, while others dispense practical advice. Many extol the virtues of correct mindsets, and nearly all contain central, pivotal ideas on which the rest of the work is hung.

The Compound Effect is a recent entry in this category. Darren Hardy’s prescription for success centers on what he calls the Compound Effect, by which small, good habits, practiced consistently, result in huge payoffs. He researched the field in pursuit of supporting effective practices; much of his advice thus largely derives from ideas widely cited in other self-help books. Even his central idea gets support from elsewhere: The book Tiny Habits (2020) by Stanford professor B.