This is an idea that changed my life. Let me tell you how.
I was watching a lecture on Markov Systems several years ago in a very interesting class on Coursera.org called “Model Thinking.” The lecture was great (I highly suggest taking the course), the lecturer used a sample model that showed how different countries in the world flip back and forth from totalitarian to democratic – neat stuff. But I noted the following – even when there was an intervention in the system, the system always ended up returning back to its equilibrium. The thought occurred to me that interventions are not permanent solutions – because things just move back to their equilibrium. In order to effect a permanent change in a system, you’ve got to change the levers that affect where the equilibrium will land.
That was really fascinating and got me thinking about different areas of my life and how I could conceptualize them similarly – such as my apartment, which oddly enough was the first thing this idea changed in my life.
My apartment was like a system – slowly over time it would get messy, and then I would intervene (clean it up), and then it would slowly get messy again, and then I would intervene again. This was the endless cycle of my apartment (I was a bachelor at the time). In order to make a permanent improvement to the cleanliness of my apartment, I realized I had to make changes that would change the equilibrium.
My kitchen, for example, was an easy place to make an improvement by changing the inputs. I’ve started doing meal prep every Sunday, making all my meals for the week on one day. I schedule my housekeeper to come to clean every Monday. Since I’m not cooking for the rest of the week – I’m reducing the amount of “bad inputs” that make my kitchen messy after it gets cleaned.
Key Takeaway:
Intervening in a system is temporary because the system will return to equilibrium – you’ve got to concentrate on pulling the levers that shift the equilibrium to effect lasting change.
– ordinary_wylie
That idea changed my life. If it changes yours, tell me how in the comments below.
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