How I Test a Change Before I Commit to It

My neighbor Elena watched this happen from over the garden wall. One afternoon she said, "You don't marry an idea on the first date." I laughed, then I wrote it on a sticky note.

So now I test things first. A change gets two weeks, and it has to be small enough to fit on an ordinary Tuesday.

Here is what I do. I pick one change and write it down in a single line. I put an end date on it, 14 days out, so I'm not promising anything forever. Each evening I add one word or one sentence to the same page: easy, annoying, skipped, fine.

When the two weeks are up, I read the page and ask three plain questions. Did I keep it up on a bad day? Was it less of a chore by the end than at the start? Do I miss it when I skip it?

If the answer is yes to most of them, I keep it. If not, I drop it without a speech. Nothing lost. I just know a bit more about what fits.

It works for bigger questions too. When I wondered about taking on new work, I asked myself what an ordinary Tuesday would look like, and whether I'd want that Tuesday in a year. I still like that better than a pros-and-cons list.

I can't tell you that this makes any change work out. It only keeps me from deciding on a Sunday night, full of hope, and paying for it by Thursday.

I keep the two-week pages in my Midlife Self-Reflection Workbook, a few prompts and plenty of blank space for the daily line. If you want to try it, pick one small thing and write the end date at the top of the page.

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