{"id":693,"date":"2008-04-16T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2008-04-16T17:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/04\/16\/self-improvement-tip-ride-the-wave-of-moving-day\/"},"modified":"2018-04-03T08:21:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T15:21:49","slug":"self-improvement-tip-ride-the-wave-of-moving-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2008\/04\/16\/self-improvement-tip-ride-the-wave-of-moving-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Improvement Tip: Ride the Wave of Moving Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Surfing.png\"<\/p>\n

Have you tried to surf without any waves before? It probably isn\u2019t much fun. Catching the right waves can make a big difference. I\u2019ve been thinking about how self-improvement often works the same way. With the right wave, you can make huge improvements with relative ease.<\/p>\n

One of those waves is moving day. That is, whenever you change environments, it becomes much easier to make otherwise difficult habit changes. You can use the big change of a move to spur on a bunch of smaller changes.<\/p>\n

This wave-riding principle works whenever there is a major change in your life. Moving to a new place is certainly a big one. But shifting to a new group of friends, getting a new job or starting a new business could all apply. Whenever there is an outside wave of change, you might as well ride it.<\/p>\n

The Wave of Moving Day<\/h2>\n

When you change environments, most of your habits are broken. You can\u2019t drive the same route to work, because the streets are different. You can\u2019t make breakfast the same way, because the kitchen is different. You need to rewire many of those fundamental routine, because the wave of change breaks them all.<\/p>\n

In a sense, a big move can put you in a position of starting from scratch. Normally, in order to make a change, you need to break down your old behaviors then rebuild new ones. After a move, the first step has already been finished, so you have less work to make a change.<\/p>\n

I experienced the wave when I moved to University two years ago. I was used to many habits running in the background of my life. Suddenly, the environment is different and everything needs to be rebuilt from scratch. As an advantage, this helped be rebuild some of my socializing habits to meet a large group of people early on. As a side-effect, many of my productivity habits fell apart on impact.<\/p>\n

At that time, I hadn\u2019t been aware of the big impact a moving-day wave would have. Now as I prepare to move to a different apartment for the summer, I\u2019m planning on using the wave to my advantage. A few of the things I\u2019m planning to set up quickly as I arrive:<\/p>\n