Immediate results are less rewarding than steady improvement.

Fast money and fast promotions: we’re all looking for immediate results these days. But really, it’s long-term changes that produce positive differences and are far more rewarding.

In this age of “now, now, now!” we eat fast food because cooking takes too long, we go on quick-fix diet plans to drop 20 pounds in a week, and become restless if we’re not promoted within a year.

However, the more quickly we reach a goal, the bigger the consequences can be.

It’s not healthy to expect instantaneous results. When you don’t lose those 20 pounds in seven days, you might become disillusioned and think you never deserved a better life anyway.

What you need to do is take little steps, because daily, small, positive actions are the secret to long-term success.

Take Scott, for example. Instead of trying to shed 20 pounds in a week, he cut 125 calories from his daily diet, listened to self-improvement recordings as he commuted to work, and walked a little extra each day.

The result? In 31 months, he lost 15 kilos, and even got a promotion and pay rise at work.

Using the Compound Effect means knowing that every decision you make creates your destiny, and that you must work consistently before you can experience success. Then, when you reach your goals, you have to maintain discipline if you wish to build on them, or your hard work will be for nothing. Think of those restaurants that become so popular that you have to wait ages to get a table. They take their success for granted and stop doing what got them there in the first place. Then, suddenly, the service and menus become lackluster, and no one goes there anymore.

It’s crucial to avoid becoming dismayed when you don’t see immediate effects, and to ensure you keep generating good results.

So what are the keys to consistent success?