Overcome the fear of change

You know you would be better off by doing something differently, but you just can't make the big decision. Sleeping on it can help.

- Phil Slade

I try to be a good gift giver, but sometimes I get it terribly wrong. A few years ago, I wanted to give my wife something meaningful and practical for her birthday. One day when I was driving her car, I realised the car stereo wasn’t using all the speakers, there was no Bluetooth connectivity and no ability to use Apple CarPlay. It hit me: I was going to sneak her car away from her and install a brand-new sound system.

The day came and I did the car swap with ease and changed the whole sound system. It was beautiful and it had all the bells and whistles. When she arrived home, I proudly walked her into the garage, sat her in the car … and watched her burst into tears.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Now you can talk hands-free, speak your text messages, use maps for navigation, use Siri, and you can actually hear your music!”

“I know,” she replied. “But I had all my pre-sets on the old one. I knew where everything was, and I didn’t have to think about it. Now I’ve lost something I knew, trusted and loved. It was easy and I loved it!”