“No man rides the same mountain twice, for it’s not the same mountain and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus (if he was a snowboarder)
I just returned from my annual pilgrimage to British Columbia for a week of heli-skiing. This marks my fifth consecutive year returning to the same lodge, same guides, same crew – and I’ve never felt more alive.
Last week, we talked about building wealth across multiple dimensions of life. Today, I want to share a real-world example of what this actually looks like, because I just lived it.
Here’s the thing about true wealth that most people miss: it compounds just like money does. Like financial returns, the rewards of investing in experiences, relationships, and traditions often follow a hyperbolic curve that our linear-thinking brains struggle to grasp.
Let me explain.
Five years ago, I made a commitment to myself. Instead of chasing new experiences or always looking for the “next best thing,” I decided to go deep with a few annual traditions, one being a week of heli-skiing in the Canadian backcountry. When I do my Unbreakable Year planning exercise, this is the first big rock that goes in the calendar. Every year, non-negotiable.
The first couple of years felt like I was investing on the flat part of the curve. Make no mistake, it was incredible – you’re snowboarding untouched powder in some of the most beautiful terrain on Earth. But we were still building trust with the guides, learning the terrain, developing the skills needed for bigger lines.
I was putting in the reps, just like we do in business. And just like in the early days of building a company, progress can feel slow. Our brains are wired to think linearly, to expect consistent, measurable progress. But that’s not how compound growth works.
Then something magical started happening.
As trust deepened with our guides, they began taking us to more challenging terrain. As bonds strengthened with the crew that returns year after year, our conversations went deeper, our laughs got harder, our shared experiences became richer.
And it’s not just about shredding big lines. The lodge life experience is half of the magic. After a hard day of riding, happy hour in the hot tub and sauna recounting tall tales is equally as important as the riding itself.
We’ve developed inside jokes that only make sense if you’ve been there. We’ve created traditions within traditions – like playing Shameball, a bizarre and hilarious pool table game that involves throwing the cueball before the 8-ball stops moving.
This year, it all clicked. We hit the hyperbolic part of the curve.
The guides knew exactly what we were capable of and took us straight to the bigger lines. No need for warm-up runs – they trusted us, and we trusted them. The crew fell right back into our rhythm like we’d never left. Every run, every conversation, every moment felt amplified by the shared history we’d built.
This is what compound interest looks like in the experience economy.
You can’t buy this kind of wealth. You have to invest in it, consistently, over time. You have to show up, put in the work, and trust that the compound curve will kick in.
Money is just the battery that powers these experiences. It’s the fuel that allows us to create these moments, build these relationships, and establish these traditions. But the real wealth? That comes from the compound interest of shared experiences, deepening trust, and growing mastery.
This is true whether we’re talking about heli-skiing, family traditions, or business relationships. The principle remains the same: consistent investment in meaningful experiences yields exponential returns over time.
But here’s the catch – you have to start now. You have to be willing to invest on the flat part of the curve, knowing that the real returns come later. You have to resist the urge to always chase the new, the different, the “better.”
Sometimes, the path to extraordinary returns is simply going deeper rather than wider.
So ask yourself:
What traditions am I building? What relationships am I nurturing? What experiences am I allowing to compound?
Because true wealth isn’t just about accumulating assets – it’s about creating experiences and relationships that grow richer and more valuable with each passing year.
To riding the compound curve,
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