Can a $20 blowdryer change your life?

This isn’t about how to blow dry your hair. It’s not about hair at all. It’s about those things that pop in your mind when you’re doing things like drying your hair.

When the chatter stops and the other part of your brain celebrates because you can finally “hear” something else.

That’s what happened today.

I was using my new $20 blowdyer and was honestly shocked at how fast it was drying my hair.

My old blow dryer was ancient. I’m not sure how old but it’s possible that I’d had it for at least 10 years. Maybe longer. I don’t really know.

The fact that I bought an inexpensive model tells you how I much I value these things. In my defense, I bought it at Costco so I always figure I got a good deal and my $20 was well-spent.

The aha moment?

When I heard my friend Ellen’s voice in my head while being amazed at how easy this new dryer was making my morning.

Here’s what Ellen’s voice said: “Where else in your life are you settling?”

My delight in the new dryer was legit, because I’d be putting up with the old, past it’s prime version for years.

Like so many things in life, it didn’t go from awesome to awful overnight. If it had, I’m sure that I would have found the lack of drying performance unacceptable and I would have replaced it much sooner.

But it became less effective over a long period of time. A little less helpful every day for thousands of days. So I didn’t really notice. I put up with it because I had forgotten what it was like to have an efficient model.

This is about settling. How many other things have slowly, over time, become less than?

That’s where my brain is today. I realize it’s part of the human condition. To some extent, for survivial, we’re hardwired to make do. We can’t evaluate every single thing (understandably) because we’d be paralyzed and unable to do anything.

So we settle. Spending more time drying my hair with a crappy blowdryer is not a life-altering thing.

But working somewhere that’s easy but unfulfilling, that is.
Taking crap from a loved one who doesn’t care about your well-being is too. Not taking that trip or writing your book or starting your non-profit, or buying your dream house, all because it’s easier to settle will be life-altering.

I have a choice. I get to.

Today my brain is telling me to pay attention. Be mindful. Perhaps there are times when settling is the right thing to do. If so, I hope I’ll be awake enough to understand that I chose that path instead of letting a little bit of my choice get chipped away day after day after day.