Do you feel like you’re someone who’s super disciplined? Someone who can decide that they’re going to do something and just not have any issue with the follow through?
I had a roommate in college who never seemed to have an issue finishing a task once he’d set out to do it.
One day, he decided he should quite smoking and then went cold turkey and never smoked again.
I mean, how many smokers out there wish they could quit and had a stronger willpower? Yet, they get caught in a cycle of quitting and coming back to it over and over again.
What about building a habit to lose weight, get in shape, or get your money under control?
Willpower is a really undependable thing.
If you’re relying on your willpower to get a task done, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
They’ve done all sorts of studies that say that willpower diminishes the more we use it and the further we go along throughout our day.
The truth is, relying on your willpower is a recipe for disaster.
When it comes to food, my coworkers can tell you, I just have no willpower. At least school is starting back up and I’ll only have 25 minutes for lunch again. That’s not enough time to go to Popeyes, where I’ve recently discovered their chicken sandwich.
Very dangerous discovery.
The other day I decided that I would just eat out for lunch because I hadn’t opened a new can of kidney beans for my salad…true story.
I know that I have to put systems in place that hold up good decisions that I’ve already made.
A budget is one such system.
Make the decision before you’re faced with having to exercise willpower.
That’s what happens when you assign each dollar at the beginning of the month. You take your money and you have to make hard calls. If you wish you had more, you may feel the stretch of trying to put your money towards everything you want it to.
But that’s what budgeting does, it gives clarity.
It’s also how you make decisions before it’s crunch time.
When you’re out and about and you’re feeling the pull, don’t mess with asking yourself. Your opinion is unreliable. Ask your budget, the decision has already been made, just go with what your budget says.
If it says you have the money, great. If it says you don’t, sorry, the decision has already been made.
Work the system, don’t rely on willpower.
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