When you have your first child, it forces you to become more mature.
You’ve added a net new responsibility to your list. The care and ownership of another human.
To take on that responsibility, you need to make better decisions. Improve how you allocate your time, increase your earning power, say no to more things, etc.
Frankly, adding that responsibility is terrifying. Which is why at 27, I haven’t had a child yet.
It’s an interesting concept to think about though. If having a child could improve your time allocation or increase your earning power, what else force you to make improvements?
Here are a few that come to mind:
- Receiving a job promotion.
- Adopting a dog. (similar to having a kid, but not really)
- Buying a house.
- Entering a long-term relationship.
- Joining a non-profit
- Launching a blog.
A forcing function doesn’t guarantee change though.
Technically, you can have a child and not take on any additional responsibility.
There are plenty of people that do that.
However, if you use forcing functions with good intentions, they can be great tools to change behaviors.
For example, launching this blog has led to three clear improvements in my life:
- I spend a significant amount of time each week writing.
- Whenever I consume content, I take copious notes (using Roam Research).
- I’ve become a lot more intentional about what type of content I consume.
It does not always feel great in the moment to have a force that changes your behavior.
In the long run though, you’ll be glad you made the change though.
So maybe today is the day to go out and do whatever you’ve been putting off.
Get a dog. Launch a blog. Start volunteering.
You won’t regret it.