The path towards a remarkable change in the future passes through the small and seemingly insignificant decisions you’re faced with today.
Watching TV instead of reading a book. Scrolling social instead of journalling. Gym instead of lounging on the couch. Working on a side project instead of going for drinks with friends. Eating chicken and broccoli instead of fried chicken.
All of these decisions have a small impact today and a small impact tomorrow but when you add them up over days, weeks, months, and years the distance between decisions becomes massive.
Most people have been introduced to this idea through books like The Compound Effect, but we struggle putting it into practice and making the decisions for weeks and months, and years.
It’s for this reason that another common refrain is “you can’t rely on willpower, you need to build habits”. It’s true, but even habits are decisions and “habit building” will always fail if you are not commited to the changing who you are.
There is a reason the 12-steps of AA work. There is a reason that religions save people. Because truly remarkable change happens when you see yourself with clarity and decide to become someone new. When you go from deciding to not have a beer this afternoon to being someone who doesn’t drink.
Identity changes are uncomfortable and scary, and they create friction in our relationships, but they also guide us to the right decisions for the long term.
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