Human Equilibria?

On returning to old habits, I'm wondering whether human psychology is an equilibrium.

Basically, imagine that chart of the Earth's temperature steadily rising. One year could be really up and the next could be really down. But overall, the 30-year average line is going to remain steady as a rock, and if that fails, the Earth gets put under a lot of pressure.

Here's the application: suppose that someone wanted to change themself. Maybe they've been a poor student for a few years, for instance. So one day, they wake up and for that entire day, they are the model of the perfect student, taking notes, studying, and finishing homework by 6pm. The equilibrium theory allows this because it is just one day--anything can happen during one day.

The next day, our imaginary student continues, and he pulls it off again, and the next day as well. But as the trend continues, the running average line begins trending upwards, and our student begins to feel a strong pull downwards back to their norm. The further the average leaves the norm, the stronger the discomfort and pressure.

That's why it is easiest for young people to change. At 12 years of life, there isn't that much of a history to pull someone back to, so it is easy for young people to change. But the older you get, the more pull each person's history has, meaning the harder it is to change. All of which means that the time to change is now, and not some set upon future point, because each day we live adds to the strength of the equilibrium.

Is it possible to change? Certainly I've seen it done, as have you. The movement of the running average line is not what hurts a person--it's the fact that it is different from the past, aka unfamiliar.

Change is hard. And if anyone has any tricks that can help with making change permanent, I would love to hear them.


"We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations." (Anais Nin)