Why are people so reluctant to change their habits? ”It’s what we do”, ”it works for us”, ”we are just fine that way”. Really?? You spend $200 more on electricity than you really should because you can’t be bothered to check a comparison site and then complain that you are broke? You stop for a $5 coffee on the way to work because you ”prefer to sleep in the morning” but are sleep deprived because you watched TV until the wee hours of the morning? You take a month to answer a friend’s email when you spend five hours a day on Facebook?
Don’t say no if you haven’t tried
Random fact: I own half of an energy saving company that is based in Spain. One of our products is a low flow shower head that will mix the water with air so the flow has less water but feels the same. Next time you wash your hands notice if the flow is transparent (pure water) or foamy white (water and air, energy saving). I installed it at home and after a month of daily showering, or so I hope, my roommate asked when I would install my special shower. There was no difference in comfort. When we offered the product to hotels, we got two kinds of reactions. Part of the customers said no, for fear of clients complaining the shower had too little water. The other part accepted a sample, put it in a couple of rooms, saw there was no difference for the customers, and equipped the whole hotel, saving tons of money on water.
Change is scary. You have to step out of your comfort zone. Try, make mistakes, and all that for a potential chance of success. Unless you are perfect, there are areas of your life that you are not entirely happy about. Think about what you have been complaining about lately. I complain that I am not organized enough. My digital life is a mess, there are files everywhere on my computer, sometimes my blog posts aren’t neatly queued a couple of weeks in advance, etc… I can keep complaining or take action.
During the month of February, I have set weekly goals to tackle every aspect of my digital life and start March as new. Sure, it is more comfortable to sit around and wait. But the clutter is not only in my computer, it is in my head, using physical resources for nothing. Instead of making a list of blogging topics and an editorial calendar, I keep all that in my head and get confused. Change is good.
I love that quote ”A great deal of talent is lost to the world for the want of a little courage”. By not trying, by letting fear limit you, you are losing much more than you can imagine.
Make an educated decision
My mum said I had to try my vegetables before deciding that I didn’t want to eat the rest. She is a terrible cook, so most of the time it was really bad, but at least I had tried. Saying yes opens so many more doors. I used to hate avocados as a kid. Now I can’t live without guacamole.
You are free to go back to your old habits, knowing that there isn’t anything better. But how about trying a little?
Make the habit so easy you can’t say no
When trying to make my February swimming goal (4 times a week, 15 minutes each), I got to experiment with creating a habit. I tried a regular hour, but there would be something disturbing me, or the weather wouldn’t be good at that time. What worked best was to just jump into the water without thinking, when it was a bit hot. No expectations. I just had to dive in. Once I was in, getting a 15 minutes swim was a piece of cake. To remove any further barrier, I also had my swimming suit on, or would jump right in with my clothes.
It is all in our minds. Since you know it, trick your mind. Challenge yourself to run for one minute instead of ten. Celebrate milestones.
Never settle
We always look for comfort and move away from pain. Unfortunately, that will get us nowhere. A journey out of debt starts with a $1 payment. A career move with one resume sent to a potential employer. Review your finances, and other aspects of your life you are unhappy about. Do not be afraid to ask. For help, for a training, for a raise or a discount on your bills.
Try a little change once in a while, you will be surprised of the results you can get.
What was the last thing you changed in your life? Was it for the better?
This post was featured on The Frugal Farmer, The Random Path, Frugal Rules, We Only Do This Once, thank you!
I just changed my cell phone plan, and cutting the bill by half! I`ve also started turning the temperature down just a degree or two, to save some electricity.
Well done on the cell! The thermostat savings really depend on whether your house is properly insulated or not, if it is you won’t be saving much.
Speaking on unnoticed changes – consumers in the US generally hate the taste of canned low sodium soups. But what they don’t always realize is that many companies have been gradually decreasing the sodium in their regular versions for the last decade. And people keep buying it!
It is all in our heads!
This is why I make a point of tracking everything (and because I’m OCD). Once I have the numbers in front of me I can see where change could have the greatest impact, and then decide whether making the change is worth it.
I have a more ”feelings” approach, that is a question of personality, but whatever gets you to challenge the status quo is great!
Very valid comments! Although I personally feel that nobody should be allowed to make money on utilities & health.
In nowadays keep home warm and have access to medical should not be treated as a luxury.
On the practical side of things – it depends! I calculated and saving additional $ 1 K a year on coffee and small expenses during next 30 years will not buy me an additional year to retire earlier.
I do not even buy coffee most of the times.But is it really worth to take all fun out of life? We stopped smoking, drinking…what is out there?
You should keep doing what works for you. I drink wine and beer on a regular basis, and spend money on that, because I enjoy it and can afford it. If you stop for coffee on your way to work I have no objection to that, my point is the reason behind it. If you justify your $5 coffee stop because you sleep 5 minutes more in the morning, but watch TV at night, I argue you should cut the TV and go to bed, and would have time to make coffee. If you make $300 per hour and that 5 minutes saved will earn you $25, or if coffee is you life’s little pleasure, go for it!
Change is scary but it is one thing that makes life more exciting. You need to embrace it and adapt. Or else, you’ll wither…
exactly, successful people have failed more than others but aren’t afraid of trying again and embracing change.
Great post… I love the point about clutter in your head. This is so true and why I like to make lists so much!
I like lists too, used to have a great memory, but there is just too much going on!
good well written article every body try to change there life style if possible and if its good for them in future or right now then change is must
Great point. It bugs me when people who smoke complain about not having money. Yet, I’ve never seen them attempt to stop. I know it’s not easy, but they never try to see if it would be difficult for them.
haha my brokest friend smokes a pack a day and drinks Champagne (not bubbly, the real stuff at $25 or more a bottle) twive a week at least. I have stopped trying to change that one.
Excessive drinking, smoking and broke seem to go hand in hand.
It is so true that saying yes opens so many more doors. I never realised it until about 5 years ago, but simply saying yes has made such a difference in my life.
I am trying that too, especially for experiences or something that will include social interaction. You can’t lose by trying.
Your post reminded me of a good friend with this very issue. I have a friend who is impossible to travel with because she refuses to try new foods. I can’t understand it at all. She’d rather eat at a blah chain restaurant than try out a local place that we’ve discovered on trip advisor. I have no idea what’s going on in her head. I know she wonders why we don’t want to travel with her anymore, but I can’t sit at a Hard Rock Cafe in a city or culture different than my own.
It sounds pretty annoying. Maybe she has a trauma or case of bad food poisoning? You can try to change people but that requires a lot of love and dedication to incur gradual change. I gave up long ago for people I don’t care enough about.
Great post Pauline! Like you say change can be scary, but it can also be so good. I look at things that I would never know or never have the chance to like if I said no to trying something new. My parents were the same way with me in that I would have to try something before I could say that I did not like it and I am so glad that they did because it has helped me be more comfortable with it today and we’re using the same strategy with our kids.
so many things we hate our parents for and just repeat with kids when we see the value of…
My grandfather taught me to try doing something first (unless you 100% knew it was beyond the scope of your knowledge like re-wiring a fuse box) and then if you couldn’t do it or it took entirely too long, you would know why you were willing to pay someone else to do it. This has served me pretty well. At times I wonder how many more projects he would have felt comfortable doing if he had YouTube around to show him how to do it.
he would surely have made it work. We wired all the new house and did the plumbing, it was relatively easy thanks to the online tutorials. Because help would have been far away and not very qualified anyway, we had to push a little harder to try and do it ourselves.
I believe life is most interesting when change is normal. This is scary, but it gets easier the more you do it. The interesting thing about life is that change is necessary to keep improving. We all have something we can change or want changed, we just need to tackle it. Great post!
The biggest change that I have made recently was leaving the company I was working for to build my business full time. It has been exciting but I am a little out of my comfort zone, for sure. However, so far it appears to be a great decision.
2012 had more changes that I can even list. I think it’s great to get out of your comfort zone. Just because you’ve always done something doesn’t mean that it’s how it has to be. If you love your life, then you may not need to make changes, but if there if fear is why you continue to do the same things over and over, it’s great to let it go. There are still things I would like to do or become better at, but it’s very easy to become a “burn out” if you never change, and I certainly don’t want to become that.
great mindset, you can’t expect change if you keep doing the same.
One thing I’m considering changing is getting rid of cable. It’s just become a major pain in my ass how they raise fees whenever they want, and I don’t NEED MTV or some of those other channels, I just want network TV. And considering the options now online, I should be able to get away with it. My biggest hurdle is the fact that I’m at my computer so much, it’s nice to move to the living room to watch it somewhere else. Also for some reason I get the food network, and the TV in my room sometimes helps me get to sleep. I think that’s why it’s been hard to change. That’s a post for tomorrow for me!
I watch TV on my laptop because it is easy to move, if you like the TV object you could maybe switch to Apple TV or netflix on demand, it loads a movie or show when you want to see it.
Great post Pauline! I am someone who doesn’t mind a drastic change periodically so I am always trying new things to see what works best. I try not to get too comfortable with anything!!!
The last big change was quitting my job to be a stay at home dad. It worked out quite well, but I spent a lot of time preparing for this. Other than that, I haven’t made much changes lately. We are planning to try new restaurants around town.. That’s about it.
Our kid on the other hand is having a blast trying new things every day. He’s two and it’s nice to be young.
I can imagine how every day brings something new! it would be nice to keep that thirst for discovery later in life.
The only aspect in my life that I am truly unhappy about is my debt but luckily I am no longer in denial about it and the changes I have made in my life the last few months to cut back and put anything extra towards debt repayment have made me very happy. What a great post Pauline 🙂
thank you! You’ll be out of there in not time since you are taking steps towards your goal.
I am a person who is not good with change. I am trying to work on this and we have some changes coming up in our lives this year and I am trying to embrace them, rather than stick my head in the sand. This post was timely for me, Pauline. Thank you.
We all deal with change in different ways, but like anything it is about trying progressively. If you don’t start running for 1 min a day you’ll never complete a marathon. Routine is comfortable but if you are unhappy with certain things you should make small steps towards change
Great post Pauline. A lot of good has come into my life because of a willingness to change or try new, scary things. It is taking that first step when your stomach contracts but you keep moving forward. Sometimes it is a matter of just getting out my head and just doing it.
thank you Shannon. Trying is good, at least you can say you tried.
I have heard it said that you can establish a habit by repeating the activity three times. It’s like going to the gym for me. There are times that for various reasons, I may stop going for a week or two. I have to consciously plan ahead for three days that week where I will go, wither after work, during lunch or whenever. But I will plan it and I WILL go! After that week it seems a lot easier to fall back into the routine of going to the gym regularly.
mmm three times I think would not be enough for me. A month, maybe. For the gym I tried to make it painless, have all the gym gear ready the day before, but I don’t like training indoors so never made it past 3 months.
My biggest change was when I lost 35-40 lbs. It was 35 years ago! It was life changing because shortly after that I started my plan to become financially independent. Funny how a change can influence more change!
Habits and discipline can help you achieve more once you get started. I see lots of bloggers tackle finances, then health, and so on.
We have finally started to meal plan instead of buying a bunch of staples that I can make whatever I decide to cook that night. Our bi-weekly grocery bill went down from $100-$150 to $70-$90!
Impressive! I go the whatever I feel like cooking route but meal planning sounds worth it.
When I was little my grandma always said that I had to try something twice. Once to see if I didn’t like it, and again “just to be sure”. For years I didn’t think I liked seafood, but never really ate any (weird for a girl from Maine, the lobster capital of the world). The bf re-introduced me to lobster and shrimp. I didn’t think I’d like either, but tried them again later in life and liked both.
I like that idea. And lobster is to die for, maybe it was too graphic as a kid to eat an animal? btw my ip seems to be blocked from your website :s can’t comment anymore!
The biggest change for me and I’m still going through the process was packing up, selling most of my life and moving to Canada. It’s a whole new world living here and I’m still learning, frightening at times but I’ve learned to go with the flow and not let anything get in my way. I’ve had to set goals and challenge myself otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. Change is good, and I’ve never been afraid of it likely due to all the travelling I’ve done in my life. I’ve seen the good and the bad and I know that everyone see’s life through their own eyes and I choose to live mine through my own. Great post Pauline! Cheers
Change is inevitable around us, so we might as well keep up (or stay ahead) and change on our own. The key thing – for me anyway – is overcoming inertia. Once I get going, I can make the changes.
Well said Pauline! Sometimes with small change or to do unusual things will give us an opportunity to learn or to discover a new things or experiences.
Like the 2013 Top billionaires, most of them started as an ordinary employee (Amancio Ortega & Carlos Slim), they want to do differently ; so they build their business. Fortunately they become very rich because of unusual things they did. They started a business venture and it turned out to be a profitable global business.
If you don’t challenge your situation you may only progress slowly, with a small yearly raise. Those people were obviously unhappy enough to want to make big changes.
Pauline, LOVE this post!!!! Hubby and I were just the other day talking about how we are so afraid of change, the two of us, and how we have to be more brave and step out of our comfort zone. This post is the perfect inspiration for us. 🙂
thank you Laurie for your kind words, I am glad you enjoyed the post.
Great post. Change is scary sometimes and a lot of people have trouble with it. I feel you are not expanding your comfort zone you are not growing as a person. Trying new things and failing and then learning from your mistakes is key to your success.
thank you Kevin, it is true what you say about failure, we usually consider successful people as non failures but they have failed so much they are not afraid to get up and try again.
Great post Pauline! Humans are creatures of habit and generally don’t take to change well at all, no matter how big or small. I try and get my patients to floss but changing their normal routine is difficult. I think we’re still in a process of change in terms of our finances. We’re trying to get a budget going that works for us and our family as well as get a game plan going for our debt pay off. It’s been good- freeing. Also in terms of low-flow shower heads, our province actually gave them out for free to anyone who wanted them about two years ago. Though we’ve upgraded to larger shower head it’s still low-flow. We also have low-flow heads on all our taps.
thank you Catherine. No you can’t change overnight but if you are unhappy you can take steps towards making things better. That is great the province gave out free low flow heads. We sold to a few towns who equipped all houses at once, much easier than trying to change one household at a time.
So true! Many of us create mental boundaries and rules, not realizing that we could be a heck of a lot happier if we step outside our comfort zone and live with intent each and every day. Thanks for bringing this up and getting me to think!
thanks Christine! I think most boundaries are mental. Unless we are in crazy settings, only a few of us push limits. If men can spend days without eating, run 100m under 10 seconds, not freeze after a week lost in the mountains, etc. we can certainly make a little effort here and there.