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January is a month for hope and optimism. You wouldn’t know it based upon the doom and gloom floating around in the newspapers and social media this year, but most folks are as optimistic as ever during the first month of a new year. They know change is hard, but emotions fly high.
Many people hit the gym and begin a new diet with dogged determination that they will finally lose that extra weight. Others pledge to finally start saving for their dream purchase or investing for their retirement. Some people pledge to reestablish their priorities with regard to work, family, friends, and leisure.
The month of January represents new beginnings. A clean slate. A chance to start afresh and anew.
It is an opportunity to implement changes big and small. Yet January also brings about a sobering reminder each and every year:
Change is hard.
Figuratively speaking, the distance between change and complacency is very short. The difference is a single step in the direction of our goals. But taking that single step is often challenging.
Change is hard, complacency is easier
The human search for homeostasis has led us to really enjoy our comforts. I know that is why I love dining out, even if at McDonald’s. It is why I love sports, TV, and movies. It is why men love their recliners. These things provide comfort.
In order to change, you and I have to exit that comfort zone. On purpose. Repeatedly. We have to force ourselves to live on the edge of discomfort. Sometimes we may have to face our fears.
To lose a few pounds, I need to stay away from the comforts of restaurants and overindulgence in dairy, fried foods, and beer, and increase my intake of lean protein, vegetables, and fruits.
If saving money is my goal, I need to take a long, hard look at my spending habits and trim away waste. Psychologically, this type of self-correction is very necessary yet incredibly difficult to achieve with honesty and integrity.
Improving the performance of my investments is a difficult change to enact. It reveals that simple human desire and motivation are not always enough if we seek complex change. Sometimes we can do everything right and still fall short of our goals. This leads us to fear failure and avoid change.
Even our goals change from time to time. For example, a few months ago on my 30th birthday, I set five primary investment goals for the next year:
INVESTMENT GOALS
1 – Max out both of our IRAs for 2016. $11,000 total investment.
2 – Invest a minimum of $2,000 with Fundrise.
3 – Grow my overall account value with Betterment.
4 – Increase our overall net worth by 50%.
5 – Set a target date for early retirement and formulate a plan to get there.
Related Post: The Fundrise eREIT: Accessible Real Estate Investing for the Average Investor
As I write, we are most likely to fail at goals 1 and 3. Instead, due to changing circumstances, we opted to invest funds earmarked to achieve these goals in finishing our basement. These circumstances even led us to make a surprising decision – we borrowed money to complete this project. Gasp, I know. But the extremely low interest rate combined with maintaining liquidity were just too significant to pass up.
Even the decision to change our investment goals and instead invest in our home was not an easy one. My wife and I went back and forth on it many times, even though we knew that completing the project would instantly increase the value of our home by an additional 40-50% beyond the initial investment.
We hemmed on and hawed over a decision that would increase our net worth? Yup.
Change is hard because the act of change admits that are wrong in the present. Sometimes this hefty dose of humility can be too much to accept.
Change is hard because it is an act of giving up something to gain something else. And we don’t know if we all we hope to gain will be better than that which we are giving up.
Change is hard because we are often left swimming upstream, fighting against the currents of life. Two or three steps forward followed by one step backward only feels like progress for so long to our instant-gratification-seeking hearts.
Change is hard because it requires renewed commitment on a daily basis. As my father-in-law often says, there is no glory in yesterday’s victory.
Change is hard because we do not always instantly see the fruits of our labor. This is why your local gym is full in January and half empty again by the end of February.
So how can you and I change?
Change Comes From Within
I’m reminded of a vivid training scene in Rocky III, in which an over-the-hill Apollo Creed is training Rocky Balboa for his rematch with Clubber Lang. Creed pummels Rocky with a steady stream of right hooks, and Rocky’s lifeless approach to improving his technique leads Creed to question, “What’s the matter with you?!”
Rocky responds, “Tomorrow. We’ll do it tomorrow.”
A fired up Creed denounces this attitude, stating repeatedly, “There is no tomorrow!”
Rocky continues to go through the motions in training until he hits the ultimate low point. Creed deserts him and states, “It’s over.” Rocky is really on the ropes this time.
When he needs it the most, Rocky’s wife, Adrian, provides a dose of wisdom.
“Apollo thinks you can do it. So do I. But you gotta wanna do it for the right reasons. . . Not for the people, not for the title, not for the money, or me – but for you.”
“And if I lose?”
“Then you lose. But at least you lose with no excuses. No fear. And I know you could live with that.”
I think I could live with that, too. Can you?
How are you striving to change in 2017? How will you sacrifice to make it happen?
Change is hard! Often times I feel the urge to give up or change the goal to make it easier, etc. Toughening it out pays off though! For me it’s about making change a habit and one it’s a habit I’m good to go. No excuses!
Great point, JW. Habits are the double-edged sword with regard to change. They can help us or hinder us.
Change takes effort and often people resist it because they don’t want to make the effort. They’ll rather continue following the same routine. We have many changes to navigate this year and are looking forward to the challenge.
Effort is a word which is defined differently by many people. Some people view simply it as trying something once and wonder why they rarely succeed. Others consider it an ongoing process in which they give it everything they have. I prefer the second definition. Good luck to you and your family with all the changes, Brian!
Change is hard! But we’ve embraced change this year – and we are going to have a TON of change. We strive for “normalcy” or the status quo most of the time. I’m building myself up for it – because tomorrow’s go by soooo fast!
Great reminder! I’m certainly trying to change some health habits this year, and it’s not easy to change a bunch of habits. So I’m concentrating on adding 2 better habits for now. I’m hoping once I get those 2 set, I can work on a couple more. I just try to concentrate on 3 things: Slow progress. Long-term outlook. Move in the right direction.
I love the Rocky quotes. You are absolutely right that you gotta give the best effort that you can and if it’s not good enough that’s okay to because you tried.
Right now I am doing a bootcamp through my gym. I signed up with a groupon in December and the very first class I was the very worst person. Like dead last. But now after a month, I shockingly finished first.
While it’s not a competition with others, I can see that I’m making progress and more importantly I could have given up along the way. But I’m so glad that I didn’t 🙂
How you approach change is soooo important. Kind of like glass half full/half empty, once I decide something should be different, I get really psyched about what my new results could be – perhaps it’s a downfall that I don’t focus on the hard work part so much… In fact, I can’t even think of when I last used the word “change” to describe a new project/improvement/etc. When I share my goals and projects with my friends, I refer to them as my “adventures”! – no doubt they probably find me annoying! 🙂 It’s honestly hard to put to words how excited I get! At that point, I have a goal and can’t help but just want to get things done.
By the way, I think all your investment goals seem super exciting! You guys will feel pretty good when you check them off as done. I’d also like you to consider challenging yourself even more (I know – batty! – but, please don’t ban me. I’m fun. Promise!). I know the market is up and down all the time, but try to think of a realistic % increase for #3 😉
Good luck!