Habit Forming

by phil on Thursday Sep 4, 2003 12:59 PM
Phil's Articles

It seems we live by our habits and weekly routines.

I hear a lot of people talk about saving up money or building up something for one or two years, and then afterwards, doing something completely different. You usually hear it along the lines of, "I'm going to work my ass off for the next 3 years to make a lot of money, and then after that, I'll just retire, and pursue my passions till the end."

Unfortunately, I don't think it works that way. Over those 3 years, you start to develop this habit of working for extra money in the future. Eventually that becomes your m.o. such that in year 3 you're still in the same thinking: "how can I work today to make money in the future." In order to help sustain that mentality, you'll probably consume more in order to pressure yourself to keep producing.

I think it's wiser to develop weekly habits and routines that you are willing to sustain now and forever.