Change

• What I do today, didn’t exist when I graduated from University.
• The first 100 days.
• A degree or two a day and eventually spring turns into summer, and fall turns into winter.
• Nothing happens until someone gets pissed off.
• Fear is like fire, it can motivate you to change.
• Always improve your position.
• It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress.
• What got you here, won’t get you there.

You’ve heard it all before: the only consistent thing in life is change. Change happens. Change is inevitable. All of that is overused, but true. It’s not whether or not things are going to change, it’s what you do with the change that matters. Even better, make the change happen and shape it in your vision.


You have the ability not only to influence how change impacts you, but how it impacts others. The world is there for the shaping, and you get to choose if you progress or not. Change is inevitable, but progress is a choice.


An interesting reality is one of the things I do with my time, literally didn’t exist when I graduated from University. If I didn’t pay attention, move forward, embrace change and try to shape it to my reality, I would be broke, out of business, and looking for a job.

So what I’ve learned to ask myself is what change and disruption is coming today, that will change the way things operate tomorrow? Try to look a little beyond the bend in the road, around the corner, and do your best to position yourself in a favorable way.

Gradual vs Sudden Change

There are two ways I like to look at change. The first is gradual change. Things happen in small increments, bit by bit, almost unnoticed, yet over long periods of time those small increments result in tremendous change happening. It’s a phase change, like a degree or two change turns spring into summer, and fall into winter.

A degree or two change causes ice to melt, and rivers to run. If you add up one percent change per day, eventually, you will compound your results into tremendous change because you are building on the foundation of the day before.

The second way is sudden change. Some catalyst causes many things to change at once, and things are forever different.

Let me give you an example, when I was 39, my cholesterol was so high, they couldn’t measure it. The doctor suggested I go on cholesterol meds that day, because I was at high risk of all kinds of health related complications. I asked what else I could do, and he said, lose 20 lbs and clean up my diet. I asked how long, and he said 3 months.

So we booked the appointment for three months out, and I got to work. I completely changed my diet, exercised, and at the end of 3 months, I’d lost the weight, and my cholesterol levels were normal. But that wasn’t a gradual change.

That was a phase shift. It was a change everything right now. And when I changed everything, everything changed.

That three month period taught me a valuable lesson. Some people can learn a habit in just a few weeks, other people it takes a few months, but for me, it’s about 100 days before it gets ingrained and becomes a part of what I do, on it’s way to becoming a part of who I am. But that first 100 days is difficult, and you’ll want to quit. Just bear through it, and you’ll start to see the change.

It’s like working out, or eating a donut. If you work out every day, for the first week, you’re not going to see anything, you’re just going to be sore. Same with eating donuts. You’re going to enjoy that hit of sugar, but it’s not going to do anything to your waistline.

Fast forward 100 days, and you’ll be seeing results, either positive or negative, depending on what changes you’ve made.

Motivation vs Frustration

One of the things nobody talks about with change is how motivation for change impacts things. Some of the greatest things invented came about because someone got pissed off. Someone got frustrated with the status quo. Frustration and anger are key motivators to making change happen.

The civil rights movement in the US is a great example. Lots of people were pissed off, change needed to happen, and finally it did.

From my own experience when I was an employee, I thought I could run a sampling business, and promotional business, better than my bosses could because my bosses were doing dumb things that pissed me off. So I went and started them up. Here I am, 25 years later, still running one of those businesses.

Great opportunities lie in what frustrates you.

Change Can Be Good Or Bad

The above example about donuts and exercise is a great reminder of one key thing about change. It can be for the better or worse. So when you are making a change, and giving up on what’s comfortable, and stagnant, make a choice for change that will result in a better outcome in the long term.

The Navy Seals have a philosophy that works in everyday life too: Always improve your position.

This mindset applies to everything. How you make the next move in chess? How do you spend your time? Is it improving your position, or not? Don’t think in the short term, because doing that exercise is going to make you sore in the short term.

Do what will make you better off in the long term. That should help you decide what change to make.

One of the great discouraging factors is the lack of immediate results, and the concern that whatever change you make, you may not be making the correct change. Or the change you’re making isn’t perfect.

Don’t go for perfection, that’s impossible. Go for progress. Make that move, take that first step, and move towards a better future.

Progress before perfection.

Don’t Settle

One thing to bear in mind is it’s easy to settle. You’re good at something, and that’s great, but what if you want to get to the next level. Everyone has a plateau. Everyone gets to a certain point and then struggles to progress. This is a problem in life, in love, and in business.

What got you here, won’t get you there.

There are a ton of things you can do to get you there, but the first thing is recognizing the need to change what you’re doing. That might mean completely reconstructing your swing, like Tiger Woods did. Or it might be trying to think about things in a completely different way, like Tim Ferriss did in the 4 hour work week.

If you find yourself in a groove, push yourself out of it, and find a better way.

Embrace change, because it is inevitable.