Everything in life can become a “slippery slope.” (5 min, 27 sec read)

Both good and bad behaviors can turn into slippery slopes. Once you understand this, you can pick and choose your habits. It will also let you choose which “slopes” you want to go down.

But first, what is a slippery slope? A slippery slope is a sequence of events where one action leads to another and another, and before you know it, you’ve gone down a rabbit hole.

I’ve noticed I do this often. It could be watching Youtube videos, picking up a new hobby, or going off a diet. When I choose to do something, it often leads to another action taking place after, and so on.

Think of it like one of those funnel water slides at the Wisconsin Dells or Great America. Once you’re inside, you get sucked in deeper until you’re eventually down the tube and out of the other side.

Let me give you an example of a slippery slope I’ve gone down: writing.

My writing” journey” started about a year ago and didn’t even start with writing. It began with reading.

I was sitting in my dorm room, bored as hell, unable to do anything other than sitting there with my torn ACL. That’s when I saw a book on my roommate’s, Hunter’s, desk. It was called “Code of the Extraordinary Mind” by Vishen Lakhani. Suffering from overwhelming boredom, I decided to hop across the room (I couldn’t walk at this point) and start reading the book.

I had been in and out of reading for a while and hadn’t developed much consistency with it. This book changed that. I was hooked. I began reading more and more and soon was doing it every day.

Reading then led to journaling. Some of the books I read talked about the benefits of journaling, so I decided to give it a shot. At first, I felt lost. I had no idea how I was “supposed to” journal. I didn’t have a clue about what to write. But I kept doing it, and after a couple of weeks, I began to kind of like it. And then, after a couple of months, I loved it.

A couple of months later, I was on a train from Madrid to Paris and was journaling to pass the time. A kid from Italy I had met sitting across from me asked me if I liked writing so much in my journal, why wasn’t I sharing it with other people? I thought about that for a while and realized he was right.

So I decided I wanted to send my thoughts out as newsletters to my friends and family. And on the train, I wrote my first blog, “Weekend Drift.”

I’ve been writing these for just over a month, and I love doing it. It’s fun to look back and see the “slippery slope” I’ve gone down. I don’t know the next step or if one exists. But I know I enjoy writing, and I’m happy I’ve “slipped” down this “slope.”

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However, not all slippery slopes are good. Some can be dangerous. Think about a homeless person addicted to drugs. How did they get there? What life events led to that state? Most likely, it was a slippery slope of bad decisions.

Maybe they tried a sip of alcohol from an older friend and were hooked. Then they started to hang around an older crowd and experiment with other things, like smoking cigarettes and even a bit of weed.

Then after a couple of years hanging with this crew, they decide to try coke. Once again, they’re hooked.

Then they start hanging out in the streets more and going to school less. They are out partying on school nights instead of at football or piano practice like other kids their age.

Then they drop out of school. Then they quit their job. Then their parents kick them out. Then out of a state of depression, desperate for a change of feeling, they try heroin. They’re hooked. They blow all their money on getting more. Now they can’t pay rent or buy food.

And then they’re living in a box under a bridge, just trying to find a couple of dollars for water and a meal.

It’s awful, but it is real for some people.

And it all started with one decision that turned into a slippery slope.

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I battle these “bad” slopes as well. For me, one late-night bowl of cereal can turn into a whole box. A game of NBA 2k on Xbox turns into five. Hitting snooze turns into waking up at 1 pm and wasting my entire day.

I’ve realized the bad slippery slopes, at least for me, come from a previous restriction.

Since I like to eat healthily, once I eat a little cereal, I say “F it” and eat the whole box.

Since I like to be “productive”, once I play a little Xbox, I play for five hours.

And since I like to wake up early, once I hit snooze once, I’ll sleep until 11 am and waste my whole day.

It all comes down to balance.

It’s a constant battle to improve, understand yourself better, and negotiate with yourself.

And all you can do is just keep trying to get 1% better every day.

Over time, you will go down more “good slopes” and fewer “bad slopes.”

And in three years, you can be a completely different person than you are right now.

Think about the slippery slopes you’ve gone down in your life? Which ones are positive? Which ones would you like to cut out? Are there any you want to go down in the future?

Maybe it’s running. Maybe it’s playing the guitar. Maybe it’s cooking a healthy breakfast. Perhaps it’s reading, drinking more water, or literally anything else that interests you even slightly.

But you won’t know until you just decide to start. And then stay consistent with it. And you never know the limits to that. 

We can’t know the end destination of the paths we are all on. All we can do is be open to the possibility of change, follow a passion, and stay committed to it.

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If this was the first time you’ve read one of these, thank you for making it to the end. Please let me know what you think, if there are any suggestions you thought of, or if you just want to shoot the shit about whatever “slope” you’ve gone down or would like to go down.

And if you’ve been on here for a while, thanks again for still reading this. It means a lot to me.

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Anyways, have a great weekend, and remember the intentions you set for yourself this Monday (but still have fun too).

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Jack