I Finally Figured Out Why Change Is So Goshdarn Hard!
This 11-letter word is why.
Ever asked yourself: Why?
Why, despite your noblest of intentions every year, you’re still 25 lbs. overweight? Why, despite your heroic diligence, you always seem to be running behind schedule? Why are you practically the same guy/girl from 10 years ago?
Cue story…
In the 1980s, a taxi company in Munich wanted to decrease the accidents their fleet was involved in. So they installed half their cars with something called ABS (Anti-lock Braking System), which helps cars in rapid deceleration especially on slippery surfaces.
You would think that the ABS would make for a safer taxi ride for those units, right? But it didn’t. Not an iota of good it did! Taxi’s with ABS were as likely to be involved in accidents as those without. The drivers, knowing they have ABS, took more risks.
They drove faster, braked harder and took sharper turns. They merged with less caution and changed lanes more frequently. In short, driver behavior changed. They took more risks and compensated for the perceived element of safety. So the level of safety in that half of their fleet remained the same.
Cue another story…
In 1967, policy-makers in Sweden decided to switch the flow of automobiles from left to right-hand traffic. Meaning, the cars would now be driving on the opposite side of the road. Safety experts expected accidents to litter the streets in the early days of its implementation. After all, people would still be getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road, right? But thankfully, the accidents never came.
In fact, traffic accident fatalities actually decreased after the changeover. But sad to say, within 1.5 years of the changeover, the rate of fatalities returned to where they were before.
Apparently, Swedish drivers were more careful in the early days. They were more alert and conscious of the task of driving. Over time, as their confidence increased, so did their aggressiveness on the road. This brought the fatalities to “normal” levels. (Airbags, seatbelts and helmets were found to have similar effects on drivers, too!)
It seems like the more we work to change things, an “invisible hand” whacks us in the head and ensures that things remain the same. The rate of accidents from the Munich taxi fleet with ABS remained the same, and the rate of accidents in Sweden’s roads return to “normal.”
There seems to be a set point for these things.
Well, our 11-letter word for that is “Homeostasis.” It’s the tendency for systems to return to a state of equilibrium or set point.
Hello Homeostasis!
You’ve probably met the word in the field of biology. Homeostasis is a central tenet in biology and everywhere we look in the human body, we see the drive towards stability or equilibrium.
The human body showcases a highly precise control of metabolic rates, temperature, blood composition and water & mineral content.
For example, the body works 24/7 to maintain a core temperature of 98.6. Any deviation from this set point automatically kicks in mechanisms that restore optimal temperature levels. We sweat when it’s hot, we shiver when it gets cold.
And when we start looking for it, homeostasis seems to be everywhere. It’s not just in our bodies and on the roads, even at work homeostasis is at play.
A few years back, printers were chugging at a measly rate of around 4 pages-per-minute. Today, we have ones working 10x that speed, and even some spewing out entire novels in less than a minute.
Not too long ago, 56 kbps was the magic number with which we experience the wonder that is the Internet. Now, we have broadband connections that make 500 Mbps look like grandma dozing off in a retirement home.
Practically every tool, gadget and equipment has been re-engineered for increased efficiency and productivity. But guess what, we are still as busy as ever! All the savings in time didn’t free us from work. Instead, we’ve loaded ourselves with more work. So we’re still as busy (if not more) than we were a decade ago.
Homeostasis also seems to be working in our financial life, particularly our savings. It seems like we have a “set point” in our heads over how much we save in our monthly incomes. So even if our salaries increased, and we’ve been promoted a couple of times already, our rate of savings has remained the same.
What happened was that our increased take allowed us to eat out more often, choose pricier brands and elevated our lifestyles. (At least those things changed, and don’t get me wrong, that’s not a bad thing.)
But that said, our pay increases have scarcely changed our rate of savings — for retirement or for a rainy day.
So in the year 2021, the year everybody expects to be better than 2020, how much will things really change when homeostasis is operating in almost every area of our lives?
In short, how do we effectively change for the good, and change permanently?
Here are three things to keep in mind…
Always Start Small
In his book “Atomic Habits,” James Clear has highlighted the power of the little things to eventually result in big changes.
Humans always have a bias for size. If it’s big, then it stands to reason that its impact must be proportional as well. But this is not always the case. Like Manny Pacquiao, little guys can sometimes pack a big punch.
Think of the rudder that controls a ship. The thing is no bigger than a few meters, but it commands the direction of a colossal floating object. It sets the course for the whole ship.
When you want to change something in your life this year, look to the things that are too small to even figure in your New Year’s Resolutions. Start there.
If you eye only the big changes, homeostasis will whack you like a rubber snaps back at a finger. You’ll get nowhere fast.
When you want to lose weight, for example, don’t spend two hours in the gym on the 2nd of January. (Did you?!) Chances are, that will be your last day in that facility. You’ve just scared yourself to ever getting fit.
Instead, tell yourself, “I’m just gonna do 5 push-ups today. Just five and nothing else.” That’s it.
Five push-ups don’t even matter. You don’t even need to go to the gym for that. You can do it any time. Anywhere.
Then the day after, make it 7.
Seven? Still easy. You can do that with your eyes closed.
Do 7 pushups for a week…or until you feel thoroughly insulted. Then do 10 push-ups. Do them for a week. Nothing but 10 push-ups.
By the middle of January, you’d only be doing 10 push-ups a day. But the thing is…you’re doing 10 push-ups a day! You’ve got a thing going and momentum is on your side, even though each step forward is so small it seems like a joke.
Around March, you’d probably be wanting to run or actually go to the gym. (And start small there.)
That beats shocking your system with a punishing workout and swearing off any form of exercise the rest of the year. The story of the frog who died because he never jumped out of the very slowly boiling pan does have some merit to it.
Take baby steps so you don’t wake the monster called homeostasis. In fact, slowly get into a different homeostatic set point — a place where your body is now looking forward to your regular workouts. Homeostasis is still working, but it’s now working for you.
Consistency Is The Key
Don’t worry if you start small. Focus on consistency by making sure that those insignificant little changes are maintained every day. Small but with momentum soon becomes very big. (That’s the golden nugget of this piece right there!)
As long as you’re consistent, you’re going to get far. Crash dieters may not understand this, but banks do. They’ll be happy with just a measly interest on a loan…as long as it compounds. And compounding interest is the most consistent thing on earth! It never stops. It’s working even when you’re not.
Warren Buffet once said, “Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world…”
Consistency is the key to making real, lasting and significant changes in life. If you’re not consistent, you will always snap back to zero. Homeostasis will eat you for breakfast and you’ll be like a biker on Peloton — going nowhere.
Change Won’t Look Like It
Okay, here’s the reality. Personal evolutions, when they happen slowly and consistently enough, won’t even feel like change at all. You’ve normalized it so you won’t feel it.
In the end, you’ll probably be disappointed because change will not truly feel like change at all. It seems like you’re still the same person as before.
It doesn’t feel like learning a new language was that big of a deal.
It doesn’t feel like you’ve lost significant body weight.
It doesn’t feel like you’re YouTube channel is getting any traction.
You won’t feel it because you’re used to it. Even a billionaire on his 300th day as a freakin’ billionaire won’t feel so cool about himself.
But don’t fall for this illusion of stability. You’ve actually gone through serious changes already. The changes were just not properly presented to you.
So don’t compare today’s you with last week’s you. Little changes, remember? Compare December “You” with the January “You” and then you’ll notice the big difference, of how far you’ve gone.
As long as you’ve been consistent, you’re bound to see the significant changes — that those pesky little advances really added up.
You started from not knowing a word of Japanese to being able to hold a decent conversation with a stranger. (With kinks here and there.)
You’ve shed 20 pounds, and that’s on top of putting on some muscles.
You went from 0 YouTube subscribers to 2,000.
All that beats waiting for that one big breakthrough or the viral event that would skyrocket you to your dreams.
And guess what. You’re going to roll these gains to the next year. And the next. As long as you’re consistent on those baby steps, you won’t recognize yourself in 5 years.
Change is hard because of homeostasis. But with little, consistent changes, we can slowly gain momentum to be the persons we want to be.
So, what’s your “Five Push-ups?”
That starts…right now.
Here’s to barely noticeable changes!
