An aeroplane \u2013 according to popular metaphor, at least \u2013 is off-course 90% of the time. But its destination is set, so by making constant tiny adjustments it ends up where it\u2019s supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This metaphor often gets trotted out in relation to making changes to your life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The argument goes, let’s be real: you\u2019re going to overeat sometimes, you\u2019re not going to nail every workout, you\u2019re going to make mistakes in your business and you won\u2019t always treat people how you\u2019d want to. But if you know where you\u2019re going, you can keep making small adjustments whenever you falter and you\u2019ll end up getting there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is similar to another popular piece of advice when it comes to making positive changes: take it easy, and do it gradually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most efforts at change fail because people try to change too much, too drastically, all at once. Instead, start running 0.1 miles further each time and you\u2019ll eventually be running a marathon. Learn 1 new Japanese character per day, and you\u2019ll soon be reading fluently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both of these popular pieces of advice make an important presupposition: that you actually know where you want to end up<\/strong>. You know<\/em> you want to run a marathon, or learn Japanese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what if you don\u2019t know where you want to be \u2013 all you know is that you\u2019re not happy with where you are now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that situation, screw tiny adjustments \u2013 it\u2019s time to yank the wheel violently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a mathematical concept called \u201clocal maxima\u201d, which I don\u2019t fully understand but highly recommend mentioning in passing if you ever want to appear smarter than you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gist is: imagine you get dropped into a totally new landscape. Over time you walk around, climb some small hills to get a better vantage point, and gradually settle on the best place you can find to set up camp. It\u2019s not great \u2013 you\u2019re not totally sheltered from the wind, and you have to walk a long way to get wood for the fire \u2013 but it\u2019s fine, and you\u2019re convinced from your explorations there\u2019s nowhere better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You set up camp, and stay there for good\u2026unaware that if you just climbed that really big hill<\/em> over there, the absolutely ideal place to set up camp is on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a position it’s easy to fall into when it comes to your life in general. Things are “fine” \u2013 not great, not terrible. You make whatever little tweaks you can to make yourself a bit happier and more fulfilled\u2026but unbeknownst to you, if you made one big change<\/em> there would be a far better life waiting for you on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putting aside the fear of making a big change and ending up with something worse, there’s anther big problem: how do you know what to change if you don\u2019t even know what you want?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where I recommend making a foundational change<\/strong>: changing one central component that has the knock-on effect of changing everything else too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The wonderful thing about foundational changes is you only have to make one decision \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t even have to be a good one! Yet it sets in motion all kinds of potentially positive changes downstream that you never would have thought of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, my wife and I decided to quit our jobs in London and be unemployed in New York for six months. There was no particular logic to this decision, other than being vaguely dissatisfied and really liking New York. But it changed everything: what we did all day, who we interacted with, the type of place we lived, our routines, what we read and listened to, the ideas we were exposed to, our opinions about ourselves\u2026everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, via a long series of circumstances we never could have predicted, we ended up somewhere vastly better (for us): travelling the world, working for ourselves, with a whole new set of skills and connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Could we have got there by staying in our jobs in London and making tiny incremental changes over time? I very much doubt it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here’s the thing: it\u2019s not like we imagined a new life in New York, then went there, then our new life was perfect. Instead, making that one big change had the effect of picking us up and dropping us on a totally different path \u2013 which led to great things that wouldn\u2019t have happened otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make a foundational change, you need to look at decisions with leverage<\/strong>: what one change can you make that has the maximum impact on multiple areas of your life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The obvious one is the change we made: where you live<\/strong>. Living somewhere different changes your routines, your social circle, your attitudes, probably your work, the opportunities you\u2019re exposed to\u2026just about everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another contender is what you do<\/strong>. Moving from one employer to another changes your routines, your connections and what you experience for about a third of every day. Changing from one job role or line of work to another has an even bigger impact, because you\u2019ll learn more new things and be exposed to new ideas. Changing from being an employee to self-employed (or the reverse) is an even bigger change again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there\u2019s who you spend time with. This could involve making new friendships and ditching old ones, starting a new relationship with a totally different type of person, or splitting up from a long-term partner (just don’t tell them I gave you the idea).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There will be others too, but these are good contenders to start with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two important warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Firstly, it\u2019s your responsibility to make the change positive<\/strong>. A foundational change opens up new possibilities and forces you to re-consider wide areas of your life, and it\u2019s your job to evaluate your new options and find those that work for you. You don\u2019t get to just keep rolling the dice by making big, random changes until you land on something that\u2019s perfect from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, remember this: wherever you are, whatever you\u2019re doing, whoever you\u2019re with\u2026you\u2019re still you<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This concept of \u201cyou\u201d is malleable: big life changes can open up new aspects of your personality, and give you new possibilities to grow. But if you\u2019ve been shy for the last 20 years, don\u2019t imagine you\u2019ll suddenly be chatting to every stranger you meet just because you\u2019re living in a different place. If you tend towards being angry and hot-headed, becoming your own boss rather than an employee won\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where small adjustments and big yanks of the wheel dovetail nicely together. To change \u201cyou\u201d, you need to know what type of person you want to be and keep making small adjustments and improvements towards that ideal. But to put yourself in a situation that\u2019s better suited to the person you are and give you more opportunities to work on those small adjustments, you might want to make a foundational change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When you have a goal, you’re often told to make steady, incremental progress towards it. But what if you have no idea what change you want to make?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLocal maxima<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Foundational changes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What to change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Words of warning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n