Mindy’s Monday Motivation – Blog Post #17 – Quantitative Changes Incites Qualitative Transformation

I love this quote when I first read it. You would never guess where. I read it in a Xuanhuan webnovel calls Devil’s Cage, written by Decadent Dragon, 颓废龙.  Webnovels have been my obsession for about a year now. I would never have expected that I would find this nugget of truth from a fantasy novel. I did take the liberty of changing the translated words a bit since it’s originally written in Chinese: 量变会引起质变！If you put the Chinese phrase in Google translate, it will give you the following translation: Quantitative changes will cause qualitative changes!

 This is a concept first brought forth by George W.F. Hegel in his theory on quantity-quality dialectic. Mr. Hegel proposed that with sufficient quantitative change, a qualitative change might result. The examples he gave were the transitions from solid to liquid to gas with the quantitative increases in temperature or the quality of tone changes as the tensions of the strings in an instrument increased or decreased. Well, that’s a bit of a history lesson for you. I think it’s fascinating to learn where things origin, don’t you? Anyway, hope you didn’t mind the detour.

 Bringing it back, I love this concept because it is so true, especially when we think about all the suggestions that have been given to us in those “habits” books. What they are all saying is that we need to make these behaviors that we want to embody a habit, by means of repetitive actions to induce a large change in ourselves. What clicks for me is that whatever it is that you want to do, you just have to keep doing it and eventually you will reach your goal. In other words, persistence will pay off. All those weight loss books and programs, what are they trying to get you to do? Keep sticking to the program because you will see the change. It may not be an immediate change, but a change will occur. I had a friend who was round-shaped. She took on yoga and the change were not immediate, but when I met her 18 months later, wow! She lost a lot of weight and had a beautiful healthy glow on her face. I was amazed.

 I bring this topic up today because sometimes I am not sure if my posts are motivational despite their titles. I talked about advices that have been given to me or that I found useful in my life. However, what could I do to help motivate you every Monday? This quantitative-qualitative concept is exactly it! Think about whatever it is that you have to do or want to do, whatever your goal is, just take that first step and keep heading down that path. If you want to save money for a home, start a savings account, read up on how to build a budget, etc. Just remember that every ‘step’ that you take will get you closer to that goal – the $5 that you save each time you refrain from buying that special mocha latte grande from Starbucks will result in over $1000 after a year. If you want to get a higher education, start with a class, whether it be an e-class or a class in the community college, it will get you into the groove of it and before you know it, you will be enrolled into a program and soon enough, you will be graduating. If you want a promotion at work, start with a conversation with someone who is in that role you are reaching for, learn about the role, what it takes to get there, then starts working toward that goal if that’s what you want to do.

You might not see the immediate change in you, in your life, but persist along, for eventually you will see the change. The incremental steps that you take will result in the change in your quality of life. You just need to believe it to make it happen. Just like I believe that though my posts might seem insignificant as a contribution to the greater good of humanity, but as I keep posting, it will create a qualitative change in the future for the betterment of society in general.

 Let me know if you have any suggestion for the next blog post. I always open to ideas and suggestions.

 Until next Monday!

 Mindy =D