How are your New Years resolutions going? Most folks have already given up on them at this point in January so a) don't feel bad if you've left them in the dust, or b) congratulate yourself for sticking with them. Regardless of your status, the push against inertia is a struggle for all of us. We prefer the familiar. It is comfortable. It's what we know. Making changes to that can be hard, especially after more and more time doing that thing.
The status quo bias describes our tendency to favor the familiar. This tendency limits our ability to consider new ideas, incorporate new relationships into our lives, and yes, even our ability to start going to the gym every day. This same bias inhibits social change.
Even when a majority of people agree with an idea when polled, the actual change is often much harder to come by. A majority of individuals in the U.S. believed in interracial marriage, supported abortion access, supported comprehensive sex education, and supported same sex marriage, all long before they actually manifested in our laws and policies (if they ever did). This contradiction is often hard for folks to understand, especially when they have worked so hard to see that change happen.
Research tells us that we can overcome this bias if we start small and remain patient. Repeated and consistent exposure to a new idea helps individuals become more accustomed to it. It becomes familiar. We can start small, making use of incremental changes, so that the ultimate change doesn't seem like such a large deviation from the familiar. We can also bring local officials on board to spread the message. The idea will seem more genuine if it's coming from someone we know. It also helps to connect the change or new idea to something others are already familiar with or do consistently. "Think of working out every morning as going to work a bit early". Lastly, we need to present intentional relative examples. We all compare ourselves to others, so we need to make sure we are comparing ourselves to the right people. If I start comparing myself to a professional athlete, I'll never feel like I'm making progress. I'll do much better to compare myself to my neighbor.
So, what changes are you trying to make, and how might you overcome inertia to make them happen?
