Fake It ‘Til You Make It?

I know I’ve not posted anything lately, despite my promise to do better. I kept writing things that turned out to sound a lot more hostile than I wanted, so I kept ditching the posts I had queued up. Anyway, I think I have a few for the next few days that’ll be better. We’ll see.

First, a question (and answer) from Dave Ramsey’s MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com, about will power and behavior:

QUESTION: A Twitter follower wants to know what techniques Dave uses to delay getting what he wants.

In his response (I recommend listening to the response; I always prefer Dave’s actual words over the summaries on that site), Dave points out that we have to intellectually know why we’re denying ourselves our immediate wants, and he acknowledges that it’s hard. He also points out that as we exercise that willpower, it does get somewhat easier to keep at it.

It’s kind of funny. This is something I have several examples of first-hand experience with, and I keep forgetting it myself. Discipline is hard, but it gets easier if you exercise it. Unfortunately, it gets hard again a lot faster than it gets easier.