Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money, Second Edition

Chapter 6. The Sixth Commandment: Constantly Change the Changeable While Steadfastly Clinging to the Unchangeable

Convert change from enemy to ally by understanding when to enjoy the exhilaration of change and when to fight it and steadfastly defend the unchangeable.

Cultural customs and popular habits seem to swing, pendulum-like, from one extreme to another. At times, people seek adventure for their leisure and high-risk challenges in their work. They revel in swift changes, swooping exuberantly from one trend to the next. Then at other times, as a society, people swing back to the stable and predictable. People cocoon at home instead of roaming, they vacation at nearby instead of exotic destinations, and they invest conservatively instead of riskily. You can almost hear them crying out, "No more change."

Then times change again—the pendulum swings back, and the giddy excitement returns. People abandon stable jobs for the exhilaration of joining a start-up company, and they travel the world on their vacations lusting for the latest thrill.

Are human beings creatures of habit, preferring the reassurance of the familiar, or do humans love the spice that variety brings to life? It is not surprising, considering the complexity of the human race that the answer is that both are true. One of the most important distinctions you need to learn to make is between those things in your life that should be constant and unchangeable and the kind of change you should welcome. Sometimes you can ...