Step-by-Step
Tuesday, January 7
More thoughts on personal change — this one is from Unverified Revelations’ recent post Self Discipline for Screwups.
We often fantasize about the sudden conversion - “tomorrow I will get my act together and keep it together forever after.” We would be better off trying to ratchet up towards our ideal state, climbing one plateau at a time. Aim for something better than what you have currently, and from there, aim higher.
One of my favorite, probably apocryphal quotes attributed to Einstein is “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” And, indeed, it is pretty wonderful how something growing by 1% a day is indistinguishable day-by-day, but radically different in the span of months.
Most things worth doing can only be done step-by-step.