Overcompensate to compensate

Probably the reason why I end up jumping into things head first. I learn or do everything I can to deal with whatever comes. Then sit on it a while. Then move on.

This is awesome! I kept wondering if I was overcompensating in many areas of my life. It seems extreme at first, but like you said, I eventually balance out.

Thank you, Derek. Fascinating as usual.

You know the old saying that acknowledging the problem is half of the solution? I don't find that to be the case. To me, acknowledging the problem is like Pandora opening the box… it is just the beginning.

This has got to be your most depressing article ever. As if "once balanced you'll never be off-balance again." That's not how life works. The teeter-totter of life (or the pendulum or the metaphor of your choice) constantly moves up and down, depending on the balance points currently in play.
See Brian Carter comment, below... — Derek

Nice metaphor Derek. Makes complete sense and totally agree.

You have a great talent for communicating thoughtful insights in a clear and simple way, Derek. I always enjoy reading them!
Thanks for this one. It just put a lot of my life in perspective! Makes perfect sense.

This is very true and I agree!

Very nice. A simple concept, well illustrated. Above all I appreciaye the advice. Most meaningful change feels extreme at first, I would agree.

You're exactly right on this. Even when coaching sports I use this method and it works (sport specific skills).

You seriously rock my world Derek. This article, together with the six you threw in at the end, is more than a gift. Thank you so much. ~ Reality check for the thoughts are things subscriber - stretching out.

Very good point and I will take it to heart seems there must be overcompensation to change things because of what you have said is the tendency to stay with the old. thank you,
Brad Lewis

@Jackie, I don't think Derek is saying life doesn't throw new things at you, but rather that when you have made the decision to change something in your life that you have recognized as a problem that it helps to move towards the extreme opposite end of the spectrum of whatever you are doing to balance out your behavior.

You said it was a depressing article but what is it about it that is depressing? Depression usually means inaction. Is the idea of moving in extreme ways when depressed anxiety producing for you?
Thanks Brian. You said it better than me. ☺ — Derek

I love how you illustrated this. I think I've leaned toward everything being my fault and now working towards it being other people's fault. Still fighting for balance-accepting my share of responsibility while being very clear when someone else dropped the ball.

Good stuff.

Right on! Simple way to put something that is simple but surprisingly hard to put to use. In terms of the brain, every behavior is a neural network. What fires together, wires together. The only way to keep a network from firing up is not to use it, i.e., stop doing that thing, and create a new neural network, i.e., start doing something else consistently (all the bricks on the other side) until the new neural network becomes established. After that, you have to maintain the new neural network (new habit) in better condition (through consistent use) than the old one (through consistent disuse). Through trial and error, you'll determine how often you can do what you used to do and still maintain your newer (and less established) neural network. The book, The Power of Habit, has some good illustrative stories.

I disagree, at least with the type of habits I'm thinking of.

To me this overcompensation is a high risk/reward action. I think that there's a small chance of overcoming years' worth of entrenched thought with a dramatic shift, but there's a much higher chance that your overcompensation fails and you backslide to how you were (or worse than) before.

Our minds have all sorts of devious ways to keep us "safe" and at status quo, so I tend to think it's better to approach any significant change by slowly putting bricks on the other side, discouraging any self-rebellion, until the balance is what I desire. Get early victories piling those bricks on the other side and you'll be able to (and usually want to) continue, and slowly will become the type of person who puts those bricks where you want to be. Try to put them all on at once and you risk dropping them entirely.

Thank you Derek this article came at just the right time for me. Recently I have come to realise how entrenched some of my habits are and how they came to be. But this gives me a good way forward. With gratitude from a long time listener first time caller.

A word of caution for anyone looking to put this in practice ... Make sure you have what it takes to balance back ... Otherwise you would be stuck like me continuously moving from one end to the other ... I know people like me would be a minority but be aware and exercise caution!

Thanks Derek,

Best Regards
Jan

Hi Derek :^)
Overcompensating: a useful tool. I can think of one situation where it might not be the ideal plan. A man in his 70s with a heart condition realizes that his medications are influencing him to be too sedentary. If he springs into action and starts running around the block and discontinues his medication it might not work out too well for him. Maybe, in this case one size doesn't fit all. But most important: Thank you for sharing the things you're learning! You are truly a treasured source.

Thats so cool, the way you said so much with so little.

Here in Brasil we have saying, that would be something like "Did you understand, or do you want me to draw it?".
Well, this was a perfect example. A good explanation with the perfect pictures.

Amazing in its simplicity!!

Great article, short and to the point. The graphics helped a lot too

Makes a whole lot of sense. Kind of like when a piece of paper is folded and the only way to make it straight again, is to fold it in the complete opposite direction.

Phil, maybe this article http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/09/overwhelming-force/ may compensate Over-compensate to compensate article ☺
Good one! I like the way he thinks. — Derek

Love it. I tend to be verbose in my commentary.

Nuff said

I believe that some habits are best broken with a sudden and extreme yank. People try quitting cigarettes and are usually unsuccessful. The reason is simple. They try to 'reduce'. From personal experience, I know that the only way to get it done is to set a date in the near future, repeat self-affirmations that "I am going to stop smoking on (Date)" or something similar, visualize being a healthier non-smoker and they make a clean break on the given date. You might fail a few times but persist and you will succeed. I went from 20-25 cigarettes a day to zero in this manner, and it has been 15 years or so!

This is a good thought.

It also encourages you(me) to remember that it always takes much more effort than you(I) would ever imagine it would to make positive change to a personal a habit.

At the start it seems as though it will be easy (just move a brick) but in fact you must move five to make a change that lasts.

This is a technique I use when teaching juggling! There is a specific point after you have learned the 3 ball cascade where suddenly you find the whole pattern starts moving forward uncontrollably. At first it's just a little bit, just moving your arm forward, and then a step forward... but soon you are running after the balls, and it isn't long before they have gotten away from you entirely and you are lucky if you haven't fallen on your face reaching for the next catch! Each forward error has compounded, and each throw is slightly more forward than the last.
For some reason, your brain has decided that when you tell it to throw the ball straight across your body to your other hand, it will direct it slightly forward. The cure is to tell your brain to throw the balls over your shoulder, behind you - extremely wrong in the opposite direction!
It always amazes me that when you are having this problem and you try to throw the ball over your shoulder, you throw it across your body to your other hand instead. It only takes one or two tries of going to this extreme to reset your brain-hand coordination.
Balance is a funny thing.

I interpret you are saying you have to be fully commited to do what it takes to change. You can't accomplish durable change without big effort. And after real change you know both sides of the situation. Am I right? I don't know.

Introducing small changes every day is another way to accomplish durable change. For me, going over-compensating sometimes backfires and I bouce back. Other times is the right thing to do, specially if it's something I really want to do.

Maybe every person have a natural tendency to go one way or the other, depending on the subject to change.

Thx Derek.

How do you take a step back to view your life like this. Seems well in practice and theory but real life...

Dear Derek. You are a good and decent man. You have my gratitude. Thank you.
Aidan

So true... on this road personal growth & development. Thanks for sharing!

This reminds me of adding reverb to a track in the studio. If you add it until you think it's enough, it's never enough. You have to add it until you are sure it's way too much, then back it down to the right level. I've added reverb until it felt right, then later found out I wasn't adding anything because of some internal problem with the equipment. This would never happen if you add too much first!

Timely post for me. I have a real life example of this going on the last 30 days that I believe supports this post.

For various reasons I decided I wanted to change the way I eat. I am a pretty fit 42 year old guy on the surface. Below the surface I have some serious health metrics that have to change if I want to live healthy into old age (the Good Lord willing). I have tried eating a more plant based diet while consuming the culprits that cause my issues.

This approach has not worked.

So, I went "extreme" and went on a vegan diet 30 days ago. I have gotten a rash of sh*t from friends, family, etc to the point that it has surprised me. I am simply making changes to be healthier and not in anyone's face about THEIR diet!

My intention was not to be a strict vegan but to get my health metrics in the green and then see if I can gently add in the unhealthier foods.

The surprising result of this extreme exercise points back to the premise of Derek's post. Going extreme on the diet has resulted in feeling great, more energy and when I recently tried to add back in the unhealthier foods I got sick and did not like how I felt! So, I am continuing on the stricter path because I want to and it is not the chore it was when I initially began this exercise. I am excited for my next doctor visit to check my vitals. Going extreme worked for me. Disclaimer: I in no way want to be the person exclaiming the virtues of a vegan diet. This just happened to fall in my example!

Derek, this is a helpful take on a difficult subject. I know I have been challenged to make changes and I believe this is a framework that is extremely practical and useful. The examples put it over the top in helpful.
Thank you!!

This is a very interesting topic Derek, especially since I have heard you say that you love diving into projects and hobbies fully. I think my Dad and I have a tendency to dive into things fully as well. That feeling of being of totally being immersed in something and seeing tangible gains be very addictive. I notice now that while this is a great recipe for growth, it can also be a recipe for burn out. Like pilling too much wood onto a fire and instead of feeding the fire, you actually put it out. It's that curve where something goes from being fun to being a burden cause we have become to obsessed with results. So I'm generally trying to have more fun in each an every moment in all the things I do. Without sounding too much like a cliche. Life is a marathon not a sprint, you have to pace yourself.

Challenging! Thanks! Been needing to get off my backside! Get serious about music, energy, project ideas, or retirement - which? All? Convention says energy. Heart says creativity. Retirement is out of the question!

Been reading the comments, above. I can only say that at some point we run out of time. So, best act today before we cannot.

I like it. Its inclusive and broad minded!

Maimonedies talks about this, it's called "The Golden Mean". Essentially, to balance out, you have to throw yourself on the opposite end of the pool, and eventually you'll balance out.

Wait a minute...is that what you said? Yeah! Haha awesome.

You rock, Derek. I know of no one else on the planet who does what you do: lives life in a wholly integrated way…and proactively shares your wisdom and experiences with everyone you can. I delete most emails that I receive. I read yours eagerly.

Timely! I felt like I had been in a maze knocking up against walls instead of going with the flow of freedom. Looking at less resistance. My personal expectations of what is exceptable for others to see in my appearance and performance was challenged when my husband posted a video of me recording in a studio. I was looking old ugly angry and stressed and even out of lip sync. A Caravagio of videos .
Talk about blame. I went into shock. Hahaha. My image of myself is shattered. Putting some bricks on the other side .

This is so true and I have so many examples in my life where I failed to overcompensate and as a result did not effect a change. However some of my greatest accomplishments occurred as a result of over compensation (education, parenting, healthy eating habits, career advancement). Great article, analogy and reminder.
Paul

I've been trying come up with a dream business, while working at a real job, for the past 15 years. I just haven't followed through on anything before I come up with a different idea. Maybe it's time to overcompensate on my latest endeavor and see what happens. The worst that could happen is I fail. Maybe lose a little money. It won't break the bank. Thanks for the advice

Thanks, Derek. I'm glad to be following your writing!

Good one. It makes perfect sense. I'm going to put this in my notes and work on applying it.

So how do I stop the bad habit of eating a lot of salt?? Thanks

Ha ha! Definitely applicable in the realm of physical fitness... Nice one as always, Derek!

Derek,

Thanks for writing that. I am pondering the processes of change in my own life with a bit of a new perspective. I had to stop drinking and change everything about my drinking lifestyle. This one was completely as you described! Bricks all the way on the other side, as in...got divorced, left my old friends, made new friends in aa program, immersed myself in making this important change. Now, after over 4 years not drinking, I am coming back to a bit of balance in how I view the purpose and effect drinking had on my life and a more realistic perspective. As always, you're insight is dead on.

You missed one scenario. If you take two bricks from the extreme left, and put them to the extreme right, it will balance against three bricks near the fulcrum on the left. A couple of loud voices can often offset a silent majority.

Balance
Body, mind and soul
You are so right !
Thank you again for sharing your inspiration!!

I think my Taoist mentor would look at your diagrams, smile, then suggest that perhaps another approach might be to remove the bricks.
Ideally, yes. — Derek

Funny, metaphors serve to give an image to writing, but an image of a metaphor to give image to the writing works even better!

Beautiful and disruptive, as always. During the first 2 sentences I wanted to disagree, but then it reminded me of my own my life-changing shift and it was exactly what you've articulated so well.

3 different friends/mentors in the course of a week recommended almost the same course of action - extreme over-compensation - and when 3 people you trust tell you to look at something, you can't ignore it. The topic was responsibility - too much of it. I had the ego to believe that all the ills around me were due to my mistakes and shortcomings. This is both paralyzing and, well, arrogant. :) I managed the fear of over-compensating myself off the rails by setting a time limit. For 1 month, I would immediately and persistently assume that everything was someone else's fault. Super uncomfortable at first, but by the end of the month, totally organic and a healthy, very dynamic balance was in play (and still is).

Things just are what they are. We all do what we do and it lands how it lands. Sometimes it is my fault, sometimes yours, and sometimes no fault is even worth worrying about. Life is so much easier now. :) Viva la over-compensation!

I have found radical throwing of bricks on the other side of the teeter totter method to be extremely effective because it disrupts old habits, but more importantly reveals the change. We see what is possible. One brick doesn't move anything so we think it is ineffective, so instead of adding another brick we give up and take the brick off. Adding bricks (or pebbles or grains of sand) can be effective but they require patience. I've matured to a point I can slowly add bricks, but it takes time go get there, or at least it did for me.

Hi Derek! Great to read your great blogs and think on them for a while.... ☺ I have been thinking of the illusion of choice. ie) if people feel like they have a choice, then they are less likely to become unhappy with the final results that may come, even though in reality, they didn't really have a choice in the matter, they just perceived that they did!! Ha. But today, I do have a choice to complete some great projects! and so...off I go!! Have an awesome day Derek! Always a pleasure!! truly Rachel ☺

So true!

I've often felt this way about the most significant things I've tried to change - for example, how much I say "no" to things. It always feel WAY over the top, and it's scary. But then, I look back months or years later, and can't even fathom how I used to do it otherwise.

Thanks, as always great insight. Also, lovely illustrations!

This fits me to a T right now as I am in a job that I no longer enjoy and I am trying to find enough steady clients to start my own consultancy so I can leave without a major drop in income.
I am positive that if I can get those clients, I will not only be able to leave but I will be SO much better off, both financially and mentally. But, maybe I am holding myself back. Maybe, I just just take the jump and cross my fingers. A hard thing to do when you have a family to feed.....☺

@Jackie Britton Lopatin

Interesting perspective. Your comment forced me to question my own acceptance of the advice in the article. Though I didn't pick up on the concrete nature of derek's advice. It seems much more malleable.

In my view the article is about successfully creating meaningful change...and the idea that it takes a seismic shift (not incremental changes) to get where you want to go. And more importantly—that change is constant. To me that seems empowering not depressing.

Just another lesson here in the way we all learn and interpret things differently :)

This article came to my inbox at the right time. Really makes it clear as to how one must attempt to change if he/she really wants to. Thanks Derek Sivers. Keep writing :)

Derek I do like the visuals and this idea but it is not for everyone and not for every habit. Leo Babauta's idea of starting with the smallest possible change (Power of Less)can also work if you just need to get started.

Two ideas to add:
Change only ONE habit at a time or else you will flame out.
Do it everyday (new habit). I read in one of Tim Ferriss's books that Mike Phelps the Olympic swimmer started training on Sundays and simplified his training and added that extra to his preparations. I've been experimenting with habit change for about 3 years now and I find when I do it everyday my adoption rate is much better. For example getting up earlier M-F vs doing it everyday. Your body will fight you if you go back and forth.

Absolutely love this, and RIGHT on time - thank you!

I've seen the comments on my post and I've just re-read this article. Still depressed as I contemplate trying to get some "balance" in my life.

Throwing a whole shitload of bricks onto the other side of my life isn't an option. Running away isn't an option. When the biggest brick holding me down (my 97-year-old mother) dies, life won't be any better, and probably worse as her house (my residence) gets sold to settle her estate.

But, at least I haven't run away from and shed my obligations and promises to the people in my life.

I found that there is life after bankruptcy, and I'm sure there'll be life after Mom passes, but for a normally optimistic person, the future is looking fairly bleak. No happy endings in sight.

Surprisingly, I'm finding myself sad for you, too, Derek. Too many syncophants trying to act as if you're some kind of encouragement guru when you're just a guy who used to be a musician but abandoned it for programming.

I'd rather hear a song of encouragement from you rather than a blog post.

I have been in similar circumstances as described by last poster tho' the house became mine after parent passing. How we THINK deliberately about our circumstances has a great deal to do with how we feel, and thus how we present ourselves (or not) in the world and thus how the world responds to us. Remembering this, I recently decided to get off my own negative (realistically negative circs) view of them, determined what I had still to be grateful for, and decided to work (volunteer) hard to put good out there despite bad circs. "What we see is determined by what we pay attention to" is in large measure true. I am seeing glimmers of hopeful change. What changed? My decision to make it so, a little help from a doc who has made huge improvement in my sleep disorder (after 20 years of wasted medical payments to others), and determination to put out better than I feel I got.

We can't control the cards we are dealt. We CAN control what we do with them.

And I find Derek's writing always worthy of some thinking about it, and not infrequently hopeful, as some days I just need to know there are other good, generous, kind, helpful people out there. So his articles are usually worth my time, and the comments sometimes very much equally so.

I can only wish the person well who finds herself in such awful straits. I had to stop feeling badly for myself and instead refocus on how I could help others to get myself out of a dark place...most days. For me, it works.

Derek, thank you for what you do.

Nice job on this. Explains my situation accurately!
DAF

I know you were just using it as an example - but "Everything is my fault" is actually NOT a useful alternative to blaming others. Because blame is not the same as responsibility. Blaming yourself instead of others just shifts you from anger to shame. Owning your ability to respond - that creates energy and truly changes behavior. Blame/shame only more deeply entrenches the old way of being. Because it's essentially identical.

Thank You for all of your awesome cerebral information Derek. It keeps us all on our toes on how we view life and to get better. Advice please-I recently checked with-(CD Baby's website)-Where is the best place to go for everything such as:
(CD bar code, world wide distribution, marketing, promotions, ASCAP/BMI affiliation etc...etc...etc...

So great...I'm reminded of Alan Watts talking about Karma being who you are...both what you do and what happens to you...don't need to believe in rebirth to understand it. Love it and like yourself!

At first read my skeptic alarm bells were ringing! Every major change I've made has been with small changes: repeated until habitual, and then repeated until a part of me. Whenever I go whole-hog on something I burn out and no lasting change is made.

I see two approaches:
1. Add all of the bricks at once, until you reach balance.
2. Add a small brick everyday, increase the brick size when things are too easy, until you reach balance.

Fortunately, there's no conflict. Small additions every-day over time, add up to a huge pile! Really, both are methods of over-compensating. It's just a matter of time-scale and how you add the bricks.

I think your approach is better for mindset shifts, and the brick-a-day approach works better for new practices.

Now this has been pointed out to me, it makes complete sense.

Not as important as some examples, but he only way I could reduce the amount of chocolate was buying going full cold turkey - no chocolate for a month.

BTW, I used stickk to manage the commitment. My penalty for eating any chocolate in February would be a $50 donation to the NRA!

A whole new meaning to 'let that sink in'!

Beautifully succinct and memorable. Thanks for this visual explaination!

One of the habits it would be good for me to break is my attitude with the local workers. (I currently work in Africa but I am from an English speaking country). The difficulty I see in overcompensating is that to go to the other extreme would be professional suicide.
An Example. If I task the local workers with a workshop service on a machine, lets say a Toyota Landcruiser, I will ensure I inspect all parts of the service to ensure the machine rolls out of the workshop in a better state that it came in. If I overcompensated and left the local workers to their devices then the work would not get completed and I would have to complete the work myself at a later date.
My problem is I know I have to correct my behaviour as my relationship with the local workers is poor at best but how do I overcompensate when this is the path I have chosen, and the locals need a lot of training. Yet if we do spend time training them they seem to forget the training the next day?

I love this analogy. Thank you.

Great insight, especially around the re-balancing back out!! There is unfortunately a good amount of external critisim for people that when starting something go all out or are accused of "trying to hard" but it does often lead to success or at least initial momentum.

This is great.

I'm stuck though - what is the opposite of comparing yourself to others?

This is so practical. Thank you.

Totally agree, and it is very much what I am doing with my 90 day challenge to myself! This article just reinforces it for me. I am on day 47, and I can feel my mental and physical state changing. Though I know it is extreme, my plan is that after the 90 days some of the habits will have become 'normalised'.

Hi Derek
Great article!
It is very challenging to change negative behavior to positive behavior.
I work on this all the time to make it normal for myself.

A profound truth described in a very simple way. Love it Derek! I can see this concept creeping into my own thinking over the next few days as there are so many situations where it is applicable.

still sending you blessings for creating CDbaby.com

Oh, jeez, hahaha... this is such awful advice, I can't believe people would ever take you seriously... which is what is so scary about you dispensing such advice!

You are not balancing yourself out by overcompensating, you are actually adding another terrible weight to your psyche. Suppose, I am addicted to stimulants, am I balancing myself out by using depressants in equal quantities? No, I am doubling down on my problems!

Instead of dealing with the root cause of whatever issue you are having, you are advising people to just add a conflicting response to their behavioral, emotional makeup, setting up even more inner-conflict and neuroses... how is that helping anyone?

Your advice is really terrible and has the potential to really damage people if they take it seriously...

Cheers, mate, and be more careful when offering advice to people on subjects you obviously have zero expertise in...

This reminds of the advice at the beginning of Epictetus' Enchiridion. It suggested that the pursuit of freedom from suffering [through proper understanding of the world] cannot be undertaken by acting moderately. In order to pursue the great goal, one must postpone some goals, and give up on others. If one tries to pursue stoicism and worldly goods, one risks failing to achieve the latter, and is guaranteed to fail to achieve the former.

Drawing from the comparison, is perhaps the technique of over compensating limited to being applied to only a few areas of life at a time? Even just one at a time?

@pbruklyn

I probably wouldn't be as harsh as you have, but I agree with your reasoning. Unhealthy habits aren't the result of "heavy baggage," accrued by years of doing something; they are the symptom of an underlying problem or dilemma. Overcompensating might not add an underlying problem, but it certainly wouldn't solve it.

On the other hand, let's not take the baby out with the bath water. I think Derek's point is that by overcompensating, you are forcing yourself to consider a completely different point of view that you otherwise would have ignored. It opens up your thinking and allows you to imagine a different possibility.

Overcompensating might not solve your problem or allow you to actually change your habit, but it might be beneficial in getting you to understand and appreciate that you CAN think and do things differently.

Also, a correction: the problem with your addiction to stimulants is not the stimulants themselves - it's the addiction. Thus, overcompensating for your addiction would mean going cold turkey, not taking depressants. The idea is that once you go cold-turkey, because you're still addicted stimulants, then maybe you'll take much lighter or safer ones to balance out(e.g. coca cola and coffee instead of cocaine).

Ultimately I agree, though: overcompensation is not a form of therapy I'd actually recommend.

Impartiality VS Selfish

I have seen quite a few your work on thiS topic. The first impressions are those idears are similar as the one from Buddhism, but It is actually not the same. Just two questions: how to prevent a person who follow your way of thinking from being depressed? Have you done any experiments with a scientifically required number of people?
I haven't, no. — Derek

My mind wanders, ...thinking that sometimes advice is given in the spirit of overcompensating, advice that people get into trouble when following too closely.

Oh, and if it's Derek's advice? Look for the metaphor.

Part of the remedy is to only take advice after thinking for yourself. As a famous guru told his followers, "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

Another way to vaccinate myself, from gurus and significant others, (older relatives) is to remember the advice from one of the Star Wars movies: "Only a Sith believes in absolutes."

So do you mean going to extremes and over time there reversion to mean?
Kind of, yeah — Derek

Someone mentioned substances (addictions). Although Derek specifically gave the example of habits and thoughts, from what I've read of addictions Derek's advice can apply. Sponsors may tell their sponsees to quite cold turkey (totally) or to practise" rigorous honesty," advice they wouldn't give to a "social substance user."

President Harry Truman used to tell his White House staff, "Make no small plans." That could be why, when it came to racially educating and merging the armed forces, instead of starting with something small like "don't ask, don't tell" he went whole hog (to extremes) with a one page document saying the forces were to be racially integrated, and here's how it will be enforced (inspections by senior officers)

You seem to be there, the really nice place. There are some people. Thank you.

Hi. I'm a Life Coach in South Florida. Stoic-Tao 👍
Love your work. Seth is correct keep writing and yes it is a pain in the ass..
As to the post..what about ready fire aim..
In respective of growth and then
balance?

This feels so relevant in 2021 in terms of why "not racist" isn't enough to compensate for systemic racism. Why we actually have to be proactively anti-racist.

WOW! I think of it as abandoning old neural pathways and charting out new ones. It's like building a path in a thick forest: it's very tempting to walk the existing path (which has been countlessly fortified through repeated behavior). However, you take up the tremendous work and effort of charting a new one. Eventually, the old path fades and the one becomes the easy option.