Is your life going up or down in that moment?

One of both is always the case because there is no staying at the same level.

I’m inviting you to take a minute right now. Think about the course of your day so far. What decisions have you made today?

It’s not necessarily about big, seemingly important decisions, but especially about all the small ones that make up your day.

Did you use the snooze button on your alarm clock instead of getting up right away? Did you see something lying on the living room table that doesn’t belong there and decide that you could put it away later?

Have you thoughtlessly taken chocolate today, drunk a glass of lemonade instead of water?

You see what I mean — it’s about seemingly unimportant things. But they are not.

Why maintaining the status quo is an illusion

I wrote above that it is impossible to remain at the same level.

But you might get the impression that this is not true. So let me explain why you are wrong about this.

First of all, I think we agree that good decisions can be distinguished from bad ones. Sound is everything good for your health, your finances, your relationships, your intellect, and your happiness. Bad is everything that weakens these areas.

I claim that you are automatically on your way down when the ratio of bad to right decisions is in favor of bad.

This applies to every single area of your life, but also to your entire life as a whole.

I also claim that there are no neutral decisions. Doing nothing is also a decision, but you always decide not to do something good or something terrible.

To skip brushing your teeth in the evening is a decision to do nothing that goes against the right choice. Failure to do something good strengthens the negative.

But if you decide not to eat that piece of cake, it’s a decision to do nothing against a wrong decision.

You see that it is impossible to stay at the same level. You ascend, or you descend.

How small decisions add up to significant effects and why this process remains invisible for so long.

The reason why many people still don’t believe this is simple: At the beginning, both improvement and deterioration are hardly noticeable. If you consume a hundred calories more today than yesterday, you won’t notice a thing about it.

But if you continue for months and years, you will eventually notice the effects. You will inevitably gain weight and weaken your health.

If, on the other hand, you reduce your calorie intake today by a hundred calories compared to yesterday, you won’t notice it for a very long time. At some point, however, the effects become apparent.

The point is: long before you really notice the first effects, you are already on your way there.

You won’t feel a weight gain of a few micrograms per day, but it does happen. When it is time for your scales to show one kilo more, it means that you have repeatedly made harmful decisions over a long time.

The effects can usually be reversed, provided you take immediate countermeasures. New, sound habits can replace old, bad habits and reverse development.

But if you fail to do this or decide too late, nothing can be saved.

At the end of a continued, unhealthy lifestyle, there is a premature heart attack, a stroke or cancer.

This effect also occurs globally. Think of climate change. Scientists have calculated a whole series of so-called tipping points in climate development. A tipping point is reached when a system crosses a critical threshold and can no longer return to its original state.

The melting of the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheet is an example of such a tipping point. Driven by global warming, the ice initially melts uniformly until the process itself accelerates more and more. Less ice reflects less solar heat, which leads to further heating and even faster melting.

But I don’t want to live like a robot — I am a human being after all

That’s exactly my opinion, too. But you can still ask yourself much more often in everyday life whether the decision you are about to make is good or bad.

You can make yourself aware whether a decision leads upwards or downwards without becoming compulsive.

Of course, I also eat cake, sometimes sleep longer and drink alcohol. But I don’t eat cake every day, usually, get up early and drink alcohol only occasionally.

Also, I compensate for the effects of bad decisions by making right decisions elsewhere.

I oppose the cake with endurance training. I compensate for the occasional late waking up by making the best use of my available time and counteracting one alcohol rush per month with sport as well as a healthy diet on most other days.

We do not force ourselves by concentrating on good decisions. When we experience ourselves in an upward trend, no matter in which area of our lives, we automatically feel better, not worse.

The long run I am running may feel exhausting at this moment, but the increased energy that comes from many such runs feels really good.

And now, really take this one minute time

I asked you above to think briefly about the decisions you have already made today. Probably you have read over it and read the article thoroughly.

But now you should have understood the benefits of this little exercise. So do yourself this favor and answer this question honestly: Is my life going up or down in that moment?

What you do with the answers is your business. I can’t do more than initiate a thought process.

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