It’s the upgrade effect, and it’s rampant. Apple produces a new iPhone and we line up for hours to get our hands on the new version, even though our current phone still works perfectly. Myer comes out with new season coats and we grab one because, well, our other coat is so “last season”.
Companies market to us as consumers and we think we’ll be better off when we have something we don’t currently own.
We think we’ll work harder, smarter, better when we upgrade our tech goods.
We think we’ll take better photos when we get a better camera.
We think our children will learn more easily when we invest in that new curriculum.
We think we’ll be more organised with a nice diary and wall planner and colourful post-it notes.
Sure, all of these things might HELP us to work better, take great photos, learn more easily or be more organised, but they won’t provide the magic formula.
They can’t change us.
We have to do our bit. We have to provide the time and commitment to learning new skills, cultivating new habits and implementing lasting change.
Our new tech goods won’t help us work better if we don’t understand time management and real productivity.
A new camera will be useless if we don’t take the time to learn to use it… maybe we could start by learning to use the camera that we already have?
A fresh curriculum will be wasted if we don’t commit to implementing it effectively for each child.
A new diary won’t make us more organised. Only we can do that through forging new habits.
This week, before you convince yourself you need that new {computer, camera, curriculum, diary}, ask yourself if you can’t improve without it, because…
