Try Small Changes Before Big Life Changes
If you are unhappy with your life, which is better: a small change or a big change?
The answer, of course, depends on what you hope to achieve and how much risk you are willing to take in order to achieve it.
Time management expert Laura Vanderkam notes that the general advice is to start with easy-to-implement, low-risk adjustments:
Those of us who write time management literature tend to focus on small changes in people’s lives for a simple reason: these changes are doable. Most people could improve their commute by listening to podcasts and audiobooks; some part of people can agree to work from home 1-2 days a week. On the other hand, someone dealing with a spouse’s job, kindergarten schools and an unstable home market will find it harder to move 30 minutes closer to work, even if it saves an hour a day. So generally, we would not focus on this solution.
Another reason it makes more sense to start with a little tweak is that you want to make sure you like the goal you are aiming for before you root out your life in order to achieve it.
In other words: Try to write 30 minutes every day before quitting your job to write a novel.
Make sure you can do the 5K couch before you decide to run a marathon.
If you are thinking of moving to a new city or town, consider if you can spend some time there before deciding to move. A long weekend is good. Better a week if you download. (I spent a full week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, before deciding to move; a few years before that, I spent several days in Portland, Oregon before deciding not to move.)
As you make these small changes, you’ll discover if they’re enough to give you the results and / or information you need, or if it’s time to start thinking about bigger life changes. Maybe the occasional side hustle and bustle will be enough to satisfy your creative urges and earn some extra cash in the process. Maybe your side hustle and bustle is so enjoyable that you want to turn it into a small business.
The main question is whether the reward you strive for – a completed romance, a move to an area with a lower cost of living, a career that gives you more time to travel or more time to spend with your family – is worth it. money spent. risk.
It takes a lot of time, effort, and money to make a big difference in your life, and sometimes that change doesn’t work. (I spent a year in Los Angeles trying to become a musician; I left Los Angeles with $ 14,000 in credit card debt.)
But if you are pursuing a really big goal, life’s little tricks can only lead you to this.
Or, as Vanderkam put it:
We have so much time. Nibbling at the edges can do a lot. But sometimes people want more. And yet another option.
It’s up to you when you want to go further and when a few small changes will make you happy where you are.