Small changes over time
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Dec 15, 2010
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I believe that small changes over time can have a big impact in the long run, either in a positive or negative way. I'll use a graph to illustrate my point:
Let's say you start at (0,0) and make a minuscule change over the course of a day. After that first day, you're a tiny fraction off from your original location. Even after a week, you're still only a few percentage points off, which is hardly noticeable. Now let's zoom out a bit and look at the bigger picture:
After a considerable amount of time (140 days in this case), you're a considerable percentage off from your original location (100% off in this case). The numbers are fairly meaningless, but the concept is valid: We tend to look at different changes from different perspectives, leading us to behave in some pretty irrational ways.
In a positive sense, for long-term changes, we often look at the zoomed-out view and only notice how far we are from completion. Some examples are things like getting a degree, buying a house, and losing weight. If instead we focused on the zoomed-in view and simply made incremental changes over time, we'd get there eventually.
In a negative sense, for long-term stability, we often look at the zoomed-in view and only notice how little we've drifted from one day to the next. Some examples are things like relationships, morality, and spirituality. If instead we focused on the zoomed-out view and realized how far we've drifted from our original position, we'd realize how drastically small changes add up over time. #psychology
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