As we get older, we tend to trade off flexibility for comfort. We begin settling on the food we like, the music genres that we find pleasing, the technologies we are comfortable with. There is something deeply satisfying, though, about the ability to fundamentally change something about our lives. I suggest you go through an exercise to try to change your behavior in some aspect of your life.

A good example–one that some people attempt–is to lead a more active life. I tried that as part of my goals over the past year. Behavioral change is not easy–we fall back to the old model very easily and quickly, and any deviation from a carefully worked out new routine can ruin the whole plan. This “infant mortality” period is usually pretty long–it lasts somewhere around a year, sometimes more–but once it’s over, the feeling you get is deeply satisfying. Often the change of behavior you want to effect is a very positive thing (leading an active life makes you healthier, for example) that you can only achieve through an investment like this.

How do you know when you’re done? That’s very simple–when the new behavior feels right and effortless. To put it bluntly, at first it will be a pain in the ass to do the new thing; you’re done when it’s a pain in the ass to do the old thing.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 23:22 and is filed under lifehacks, principles, retrospective, things everyone should do. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.