Piggy’s Blog

I like to theorize, although I may only have the vision of a donkey filled up on a 6-pack. My theory today is that human beings are merely irrational beings with rationale. Below are a few examples to support this theory.

Banks, real estates brokers, and home buyers who fearlessly bet on the real estate market to go up forever. Haven’t they heard what goes up must comes down? And how can anything grow forever?

A president and politicians who think a $600~ per person tax rebate will save people from losing their home and cover the losses in their retirement/pension plan.

People who are easily swayed and hastily change the opinion on a person due completely to rumors and stories about someone else who is remotely associated with him.

Someone in a dire or unfavorable somehow think, hope, or pray that the situation will somehow change without themselves changing.

Those are my few examples… What do you think about my theory? Do you have any examples from your experience? Why don’t you leave a comment and let me know?

Of course, my theory can as easily be disproved by counter examples. Hence, it is just a theory.

There is another reason for me to say this. I do believe people make decisions irrationally more often than not, where they are mostly influenced by ego/emotions. I am not judging or saying it is bad per se, but if we can base our decisions and expectations on this understanding as we observe such is the case, we will come across less disappointment and misunderstanding in everyday life.

On the other hand, it is also useful to be self-conscious when you are trying to rationalize an irrational decision. This should help mitigate some of the bad situations we tend to get ourselves into. Some food for thought.

Yes. I believe people can change, that it is possible for anyone to create positive change.

Then how come people seem to be unable to do so?
Even when they know for sure they want positive change…
Be it personal finance, health, relationship, or life-in-general…

I will take a crack at the answers, and I hope you are ready to read with an open mind.

Wrong Expectation

When people talk about change, they often mean that they want change without effort. They want magic pills. Everything people do, everything people want, is a matter of instant gratification. People are high on the instant gratification drug. They want something and they want it NOW. Simultaneously, they want results but they do not want to pay the price.

Obviously, they could not be more wrong, if they truly want permanent positive change. That is why you and I keep hearing people keep talking or thinking about changing this and that but never see any results. Or they tried this and that but nothing worked. Perhaps you are one of them. How can one expect to change with such expectation?

Change is difficult. Change is never easy. And nobody wants to hear that. Change involves being uncomfortable. That is why the phrase “go out of your comfort zone” exists.

The Curse of Habits

The ways one person acts and thinks are habits. Creating positive change means substituting bad habits with new ones. Old habits require discipline to get rid of. New habits require discipline to adopt. The longer you have maintained an old habit, the longer it takes you to learn and adopt a new behavior as a habit. This is the nature of habit. This is the reason why it becomes harder to change the older one is. And yes, it is possible to change even if you are mega-old.

To create permanent positive change is a constant struggle of changing habits. And it WILL take time and patience.

Doing Differently Feels “Wrong”

Change means doing differently, and doing differently is awkward. To change means having lots of awkward moments because things you have never done before naturally feels wrong (and uncomfortable) when you first try it. People are not ready to do “wrong” and be uncomfortable.

One of my favorate quote from the movie 40 year old virgin:

Andy: This doesn’t feel right.
Jay: Of course it don’t feel right! What has felt right for you doesn’t work! You need to try some wrong, dawg.

The Intractable Ego

People is obsessed and in love with being right. They will do whatever it takes to defend what they think is right. Everything else is wrong. When you let your ego dictate you like that, you will be intractable. If your ego is too strong to bend, then it is unfortunate because part of changing means admitting what you think is right is in fact wrong.

Not a fan of finding faults within yourself? Then ask yourself the question, “Do I want to be right, or do I want to be better?” What is your answer?

Options and Backdoors

People make it an option to change. I am not saying you must change. If you are happy the way you are, that is wonderful and I am happy for you. However, if you want to change, you must make the choice to change and not let it just be an option. You cannot leave yourself with backdoors to back out. You must finish what you started.

And you must not dissuade yourself with crappy excuses such as “Yes, but…”, “I am too busy” because whenever I hear people say those, it means they are not ready to do what it takes to change.

Loneliness

Believe it or not, when you start to change your behaviors, you make others uncomfortable. Not only that, you may find yourself having difficulty to communicate to others and to have others understand you. This turns into a certain degree of loneliness each person who is changing must face. And it is possible that you may have to find a whole new set of friends.

Additionally, if you are striving to do something extraordinary, it is certain that you will face discouragement and isolation from people you know. Because not everyone has the same goal and perception to be extraordinary, or as I would call it — greatness. So really, not everyone, not many will understand you.

If you want to change, ask yourself the following questions…
Am I ready to get uncomfortable?
Am I ready to struggle constantly?
Am I ready to do it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year?
Am I ready to be wrong?
Am I ready to go from the starting line to the finishing line without giving up?
Am I ready to be different from your peers, friends, and family?

Lastly, I think it boils down to the next few questions…
Do I want to be better?
Do I want it bad enough?
Am I ready to do whatever it takes?

As I at in the office plugging away at the keyword today, or not, since I got distracted and something hit me…

Life is not sitting in an office/cubicle for most of the day.
Life is not climbing corporate ladders.
Life is not about fame.
Life is not being super-rich.
Life is not having MacMansion.
Life is not about drama.
Life is not killing each other.

Life is compassion.
Life is having genuine relationship.
Life is appreciating what nature offers.
Life is simple.
Life is living in the moment.
Life is changing.
Life is learning.
Life is singing.
Life is playing piano.

Yes, I am a bit of a dreamer and I like it. I tell myself to work hard to move more and more toward what “Life is” everyday.

I find myself driving slower these days to get better gas mileage amidst erupting gas price. On top of that, I spent $450~ to replace the tires on my Scion tC with some BF Goodrich g-Force Super Sport A/S tires upon hitting 45,000 miles. So there goes my economic stimulus payment! (which I have not received yet)

It is worth it though. It feels great to have improved maneuver and quieter cabinet versus driving on bald tires. With better traction, I expect a slight boost in my gas mileage but that remains to be seen until my tank empties. And finally, I hope it will last me a decent mileage before next replacement.

At this point, it is a bit sad that I am influenced to slow down for economic reason because I am a fast driver. My motto is to be fast, safe, and efficient which means I know my car well and know what I am capable of and drive at speed appropriate to road and traffic condition, again — for the purpose to be fast, safe, and efficient. That means I drive fast only if it does not lead to lots of braking, swerving, and middle fingers. I prefer not to be found mutilated in some road ditch or a hole in my head due to road ragers.

Guess what else is rising gas price causing? A stronger desire to run people of the road when they make me slow down unreasonably. A specific but typical scenario is when someone blows by me at 100mph, cuts in front, then upon a curve brakes to 100 times slower, at which point I want them in the ditch with a hole in their head.

Now I don’t claim to have answer to the gas price/demand issue. I may give some good old-fashioned behavior change suggestions because it is no secret that the U.S. uses more than half of the gasoline supply in the entire world. Base on that fact, I think it means we need to somehow consume less gas than we had.

I do know one thing though. It makes me shudder when Clinton and McCain claim to “give Americans a break” by suspending the gas tax on oil companies. This shows non-thorough thinking and short sightedness because…

First, it is not guaranteed that the gas tax suspension on oil companies will trickle down to us commoners, in which case, it serves only to fill the if-not-already-full pockets of those companies. Second, even if it does translate to lower gas price, 20~ cents decrease per gallon means diddly squat because converted to a scale of monthly saving, it means no more than $10-20 monthly saving for most folks. Well, that gives us 20-40 packs of instant Ramen noodles each month… But they will need to prepare a solution for when everyone is high on sodium with failed kidneys, high blood pressure and other heart diseases.

Like many things else these days, it sounds like nothing more than a gimmick.

I am not a big political person, but something tells me that Clinton and McCain’s goal of using the gas tax argument is only for the sake of campaign and obtaing votes. If otherwise, that they truly believe this will help to save Americans choking from gas price, it demonstrate how they do not have clear thinking and long-term perspective. Either case sends shivers down my spine if they reach the White House.