Dumb Little Man | Tips for Life

You may have heard of the “Broken Windows” theory of crime fighting, first mentioned in a 1982 Atlantic Monthly article by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling (and made popular by New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 1990s). The example given in the article was of a building with a few broken windows. If the owner leaves the windows broken, vandals are likely to break more windows, and more, until all of the windows are broken and eventually squatters move in. In contrast, the authors point out that if the owner of the building fixes the windows quickly (within a day or week), vandals are less likely to break more windows, the building will not be destroyed by inhabitants, and it is easier to rehabilitate. Additionally, if the sidewalks are cleaned every day, litter will not accumulate.

In our personal lives, if we can deal with the little things before they begin to accumulate – if we keep our sides of the street clean - we can often improve our lives tremendously. Whereas if we let them go, they become major, escalating problems.

Here's how you can keep your life in order using the broken windows theory:

1. When you deviate in your mission to correct or eliminate a habit you're trying to break, don't abandon your efforts. Stick with it and start fresh. Often we say something like, “I’m going to stop procrastinating,” and the first time we break that resolution, we give up.


2. Take care of your personal appearance. When you put off getting a haircut, don't shave, or wear worn-out shoes, you give yourself a message about how much you care about your life.


3. Make commitments and keep them. Even if things are not going well, personally, just making and keeping a few small commitments each week can help you pull out of it.


4. Stop blowing up about the little things. For example, don't let traffic annoy you. Forget about the long line at the DMV that never seems to move. Don't let the person who waits until his/her items are totaled before pulling out the checkbook infuriate you. Anger is a major problem for many Americans. If you can learn to let go of truly unimportant things – the things you have no control over - you’ll find anger to be less of a problem.


5. If something bothers you, deal with it now. Our tolerations push us beyond our limits sometimes, and yet these allowances, individually, are often very small. Deal with each one as it arises.


6. Keep your side of the street clean. Don't worry about what others are thinking and doing. Take responsibility for yourself and your life and take action.

Quite often, we have little things in our lives that could be fixed quite easily. Some are new; some have existed for a while. But when we take immediate care to fix them – to set new standards for ourselves - our lives begin to take on a better condition.

Written for Dumb Little Man by David B. Bohl, Husband, Father, Friend, Lifestyle Coach, Author, Entrepreneur, and creator of Slow Down FAST. For more info go to Slow Down Fast and visit his blog at Slow Down Fast blog.