Member-only story
The Difficulty Of Small Changes Is Equal To The Impact They Can Have
Why is it so hard to modify any behaviour even when the benefits are clear?
The Smallest Changes
It is impressive how hard it may be to make the smallest changes. Even simple changes require a tremendous effort: thus, it isn’t making the change that is hard but transitioning from deciding that we will make it to actually making it. We might decide to stop listening to a show we have identified as detrimental to the health of our remaining neurones, or we might decide to go for a 15-minute run every evening. In both cases, the change itself, the effort required by the activity, isn’t colossal. Yet, it might be years before we switch, if we do.
Search Engine Switch
Seth Godin recently blogged about the opportunity we all have to swap search engines. Moving from Google to Ecosia, he explains, is not only easy but beneficial, not only for the planet and society but for us as individuals, too: better results, less advertising, and we get to feel good because our searches contribute to a massive tree-planting effort. What astounded me the most when making the switch was that the people at Ecosia must understand how arduous change — any form of change — is for everybody. They have made dumping Google on…